6. 


Stem  t^e  &i6rart5  of 

(profeBBor  <Wiffidm  J^^^^S  (Bteen 

(jSequeaf  9^^  Bt  ^itn  to 
t^e  feiBtati?  of 

(Princeton  C^eofogicdf  ^emindtj 

2)5S80 


1/ vvIwg;::^  V-^ 


g^-^--e  ("^ 


CROWNED  AND  DISCROWNED; 


OB. 


THE   REBEL    KIJYG 


THE   PROPHET   OF   RAMAH. 


7 

REV.  S.  W.  "fcULVER,  A.M. 


ffiHitlj  m  Entrotructian, 
By   rev.    G.   W.    EATON,    D.  D., 

PBES.    or  THE  THEOLOaiCAIi   OEPABXMBXT   OF   UADISON   UXIVEBSITT. 


BOSTON: 

GrOTJIliD     A.  ]Sr  D      31,  I  N  C  O  Hi  IS", 

59     WASHINGTON     STEEET. 

NEW  YOBK:  SHELDON  AND  COMPANT. 
18  70. 


Entered  according  to  Act  o(  Congress,  In  the  year  1870,  by 

GOULD  &  LINCOLN, 
.„  the  Clerk's  Oace  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of 
^"  Massachusetts. 


Eocb^vc^  &  Churchill,  Printers  and-Stereotypers. 
122  Washiugton  Street,  Boston. 


PREFACE. 


^BjMM^iHE  following  work  is  an  attempt  to  realize 
i-iyv    in    a    single   instance    the    use    that    may 
J  profitably  be  made  of  Old  Testament  nar- 
'j^   rative,   when   viewed   in  the   lisht  of  his- 


tory and  from  the  position  of  Christian 
enlightenment.  The  author  has  not  called  in  the 
aid  of  fiction  to  embellish  the  narrative ;  but  it 
is  believed  that  in  this  case  the  truth  itself 
possesses  an  interest  surpassing  that  of  any 
fiction.  While,  therefore,  inspiration  is  permitted 
to  tell  its  own  "  unvarnished  tale,"  the  practical 
Christian  lessons  educed  are  such  as  flow  in 
natural  order  of  sequence  from  the  narrative 
itself. 

The  life  of  Saul,  the  rebel  king,  and  his  con- 
verse with  Samuel,  the  prophet  of  Ramah,  form 
the    groundwork   of    the    volume.      A    series    of 

m 


IV  PREFACE. 

incidents   of    thrilling   interest,    commencing   wit! 
his  inauguration  and  ending  with  his  tragic  death, 
are   cited   as   illustrative   and  confirmator}'  of  im- 
portant   spiritual    lessons    of   practical    and    per- 
petual application. 

If  the  work  find  interested  readers,  and  if  it 
have  the  effect  in  any  measure  to  resolve  per- 
plexities, to  encourage  faith,  to  establish  the 
waveriug ;  or  if  any  are  led  to  see  more  clearly 
the  dangers  of  disobedience,  and  so  are  impelled 
to  betake  themselves  to  the  way  of  the  divine 
testimony,  the  fondest  hopes  of  the  writer  will 
be  realized. 

With  a  prayer  that  the  divine  blessing  may 
rest  upon  it,  and  that  it  may  go  forth  upon  a 
mission  of  usefulness,  it  is  committed  to  the 
publishers   and  the  public  by 

THE    AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


-♦<>^ 


page 
Introductory  Note H 


CHAPTER    I. 

SAUL  AMONG  THE  PROPHETS       .        .        .        .        •  17 
I.    The  Relative  Functions  op  Prophet  and  King 

IN  Israel 1'' 

II.  The  Revolution 18 

III.  The  Calling  op  the  King 20 

IV.  The  Inquiry  op  the  People  and  the  Important 

Question 22 

V.    Moral  Incongruities 24 

VI.    Need  op  Moral  Discrimination     ....  27 

VII.    The  False  Propessor 29 

V 


VI  CONTENTS  , 

VIII.    A  Class  of  Conscientious  Scruples  Considered  .  31 
IX.    Discrimination  in  the  Case  of  Ministerial  Apos- 
tasy       33 

X.    Discrimination  as  to  the  Ordinances   ...  35 
XI.    Faith  must  stand  not  in  the  Fallible,  but  in  the 

Infallible  .       •       .       •       .       .       .       .  38 


CHAPTEE    II. 

DEFECTIVE  OBEDIENCE 43 

I.    Saul's  Disobedience  and  the  Prophet's  Rebuke  .  43 

II.    Sceptical  Cavils 47 

III.    The  Lesson  Considered  ,        .        ,        .        .        .  60 
LV.    Illustrated  in  the   History  op  the  Christian 

Church        . 53 

V.    The  Reformations  of  the  Sixteenth  and   Eigh- 
teenth Centuries 54 

VI.    Prevalent  Defects  in  Christian  Service     .        .  59 


CONTENTS,  VH 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE  REBELLIOUS  SACRIPICE        •        ....  65 

I.    A  Second  Lesson  Suggested 65 

II.    Character  a>d  Prevalence  of  this  Error  .        .  6^ 
m.    Human  Devices  Displace  the  Commandments  of 

God 72 

IV.     Infant  Baptism.  —  Dr.  Bushnell's  Theory  .        .  74 
V.    Our  Responsibility  as  to  the  Ordinances  of  the 

Gospel 77 

VI.    Plainness  of  the  Case  to  an  Earnest  Inquirer  81 

VII.    One  Class  of  Duties  Substituted  for  Another  .  84 

VJII.    The  Way  of  Obedience  the  only  "Way  of  Safety  91 


Vni  CONTENTS . 


CHAPTER    IV. 

A  PROVERB  IN  ISRAEL  .......  97 

I.    The  Proverbial  Question 97 

II.      How  IT  BECAME  PROVERBIAL 100 

III.  Historical  Parallels 102 

IV.  Contradictions  and  Mutual  Refutations  op  Er- 

RORISTS 104 

V.    Outward    Opposition.  —  Julian   and    other    Op- 
posers  107 

VI.    A  Moral  Providence 109 

VII.    Conservatism  and  Progress  .        .        .        .        .  113 

VIII.    Hostility  Encountered  by  our  Saviour       .        .  118 

IX.    The  Supreme  Authority 121 


CONTENTS.  IX 


CHAPTER    V. 

FRUITLESS  SUPPLICATION 125 

L    Sattl's  Resort  to  Prayer 125 

II.     The  Closing  Scene  in  a  Guilty  Career       .        .  130 

III.  Scripture  Record  op  His  Sin         .        .        .        .131 

IV.  An  Old  Lesson  Illustrated 135 

V.     Consequences  prom  Neglect  of  Religious  Oppor- 
tunities          136 

VI.    Progressive  Degradation  op  Character       .        .  1-44 

VII.    Final  Loss  op  the  Soul 148 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 


:>>«c 


HAVE  perused  in  manuscript  the  pages  of 
the  following  work.  It  is  a  valuable  contri- 
bution to  our  religious  and  evansielical  Uter- 


es   uture.      In    matter     and    style    it    possesses 
merits  which  should  secure  for  it  a  wide  cir- 
culation and  general  perusal  among  thoughtful  and 
earnest   Christians. 

From  suggestive  passages  in  the  life  of  Saul, 
the  first  king  of  Israel,  the  author  has  drawn  a 
series  of  lessons  of  the  highest  practical  moment ; 
and  of  special  application  to  the  present  as  well 
as  to  the  past.  Indeed,  a  prominent  excellence 
of  the  whole  discussion  consists  in  the  discrimi- 
nation,   pertinence,    and    force,    with    which     the 

XI 


XII  IN  TJiOD  UCTOIi  Y     NOTE. 

lessons  deduced  are  applied  to  existing  evils 
and  pernicious  tendencies  in  Christian  commu- 
nities ;  and  hence  the  work  is  of  present  and 
urgent   interest. 

Under  the  heads  of  "  Saul  among  the  Proph- 
ets," "Defective  Obedience,"  "The  Rebel- 
lious Sacrifice,"  "  A  Proverb  in  Israel,"  and 
"  Fruitless  Supplication,"  various  radical  ques- 
tions, bearing  on  religious  opinions  'and  life,  are 
discussed  with  a  force  of  logic  and  appositeness 
of  illustration,  which  cannot  fail  to  render  valuable 
and  efficient  aid  in  relieving  the  perplexities  of 
believers  in  the  Bible  as  a  revelation  from  God, 
and  in  answering  the  captious  cavils  of  the 
sceptic.  With  unflinching  fidelity,  thoroughness, 
and  loyalty  to  God  and  his  truth,  the  author 
has  set  forth  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Christian  ethics,  or  gospel  morality ;  and  the 
spirit  and  temper  with  which  they  should  be  car- 
ried out  in  practice.  Unquestioning,  unreserved, 
and  cordial   obedience  to  the  plain  commands  of 


INTRODUCTORY     NOTE.  XIII 

God  is  clearly  and  impressively  showu  to  be  the 
prime  and  exclusive  element  in  all  acceptable  ser- 
vice to  Ilim,  as  our  only  Sovereign.  The  ani- 
madversions upon  Episcopacy  and  Infant  Baptism 
will,  of  course,  be  more  acceptable  and  edifying 
to  Baptists  than  to  the  adherents  of  these  forms ; 
but  the  principles  and  tests  applied  to  these  cases 
of  aberration  from  revealed  truth  cannot  be 
gainsaid  by  any  sincere  and  earnest  Christian, 
of  whatever  name.  Their  practical  application 
can  alone  furnish  grounds  of  difference  of 
opinion  and  practice.  These  principles  and 
tests,  logically  and  scripturally  carried  out,  as 
the  author  has  done,  necessitate  his  conclu- 
sions. 

The  style  of  the  author  is  singularly  perspic- 
uous, direct,  and  free  from  ambitious  rhetorical 
ornament ;  but  it  rises  at  times  to  a  high  order 
of  eloquence  and  beauty.  The  spirit  and  tone  of 
the  whole  work  is  eminently  evangelical,  earnest 
and    solemn,    and   well   suited   to  the    grave   and 


XIV  INTRODUCTORY    NOTE, 

high  themes  discussed.  The  conclusion  contains 
a  powerful  and  pungent  appeal,  especially  to 
the  young,  in  application  of  the  subjects  which 
have  passed  under  consideration. 

G.  W.  Eaton. 

Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  March,  1870. 


I. 

SAUL  AMOJYG  TEE  PROPHETS. 


CROWNED  AND  DISCROWNED, 


CHAPTER  I. 

SAUL    AMONG   THE    PROPHETS. 
I. 

THE   RELATIVE    FUNCTIONS    OF   PROPHET  AND    KING 
IN    ISRAEL. 

AMUEL,  the  first  in  the  line  of  the  proph- 
ets, and  Saul,  the  first  in  the  line  of  the 
kings  of  Israel,  are  the  characters  that 
especially  claim  our  attention  in  the  first 
book  of  Samuel.  It  was  a  new  era  in 
the  history  of  the  nation  when  the  kingly  and 
prophetic  functions  became  permanently  sepa- 
rated. The  government  had  been  established 
as  a  pure  theocracy.  The  mediator,  who  was 
its  divinely  appointed  head,  sustained  to  the 
people  the  relation  of  religious  teacher  and 
temporal  ruler ;  combining  thus  in  one  the 
prophet  and  the  king.     It  was  the  design  that 

2  17 


18  SAUL   AMONG    THE   PROPnETS. 

the  human  administration  should  always  be  as- 
sociated with  the  divine  counsel  and  guidance. 
The  earthly  ruler  was  always  to  hold  himself  in 
subordination  to  the  divine  rider ;  the  lower  to 
follow,  implicitly,  the  enactments  of  the  higher 
law. 

In  this  respect  it  was  a  type  of  what  any 
government  must  be  that  would  possess  the  ele- 
ments of  stabihty  and  permanence.  The  gov- 
ernment of  God  must  constantly  be  owned  and 
obeyed,  as  supreme.  When  the  divine  ruler  is 
forgotten,  and  the  mercl}^  human  is  invested 
with  the  attributes  that  belong  only  to  him,  dis- 
aster and  misery,  if  not  speed}'  destruction,  are 
sure  to  follow.  The  tendency  which  was  now 
maturing  among  the  people  of  Israel  was  one 
that  is  common  among  men  ;  namely,  to  clothe 
human  government,  whether  it  be  that  of  many 
or  of  one,  whether  it  be  that  of  an.  autocracy  or 
a  democracy,  with  irresponsible  power. 

n. 

THE  devolution; 

The  first  book  of  Samuel  records  his  call  to 
the  prophetic  office  and   his  administration  of 


THE  revolution:  19 

the  government  T\'liilc  lie  judged  Israel.  In  his 
old  age  he  appointed  his  sons  judges  in  his 
stead.  "The  corrupt  administration  of  justice 
by  Samuel's  sons  furnished  the  occasion  to  the 
people  for  rejecting  that  theocracy,  of  which 
they  neither  appreciated  the  value,  nor,  through 
their  unfaithfulness  to  it,  enjoyed  the  full  ad- 
vantages. An  invasion  by  the  Amorites  seems 
also  to  have  conspired  with  the  cause  just  men- 
tioned, and  with  the  love  of  novelty,  in  prompt- 
ing the  demand  for  a  king, —  an  officer  evident- 
ly alien  to  the  genius  of  the  theocracy,  though 
contemplated  as  a  historical  certainty,  and  pro- 
vided for  by  the  Jewish  lawgiver." 

The  account  of  this  revolution  is  given  in  the 
followins^  words  :  "  Then  all  the  elders  of  Is- 
rael  gathered  themselves  together,  and  came  to 
Samuel,  to  Ramah  ;  and  said  unto  him.  Behold 
thou  art  old,  and  thy  sons  walk  not  in  thy  ways  : 
now  make  us  a  king  to  judge  us,  like  all  the  na- 
tions. But  the  thing  displeased  Samuel,  when 
they  said  Give  us  a  king.  And  Samuel  prayed 
unto  the  Lord.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Sam- 
uel, Hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  people,  in 
all  that  they  say  unto  thee  ;  for  they  have  not 


20  SAUL  AMONG   THE  PROPHETS. 


rejected  thee,  but  they  have  rejected  me,  that  I 
should  not  reign  over  them." 


m. 

THE   CALLING   OF  THE   KING. 

Finding  himself  a  guest  of  the  prophet  under 
circumstances  which,  one  would  think,  could 
have  little  to  do  with  the  establishment  of  a 
kingdom,  Saul  is  surprised  with  the  announce- 
ment that  he  is  to  be  king  over  Israel.  With 
imdissembled  diffidence  and  self-distrust,  the 
youth  shrinks  from  so  great  an  honor  and  re- 
sponsibility. He  is,  nevertheless,  encouraged 
by  the  aged  prophet,  who,  the  next  morning, 
anoints  him  king.  He  then  assures  him,  that, 
as  he  comes  to  the  hill  of  God,  and  meets  the 
company  of  the  prophets  coming  down  from 
thence,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  will  come  upon 
him,  and  he  shall  prophesy ;  and  shall  be  turned 
into  another  man. 

The  sequel  is  thus  described  :  "  And  it  was  so 
when  he  had  turned  his  back  to  go  from  Samuel, 
God  gave  him  another  heart;  and  all  these 
signs  came  to  pass  that  day;  and  when  they 


THE   CALLING   OF  THE  KINO.  21 

came  thither  to  the  hill,  behold,  the  prophets  met 
him,  aud  the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon  him,  and 
he  prophesied  among  them.  And  it  came  to  pass, 
when  all  that  knew  him  beforetime  saw  that, 
behold,  he  prophesied  among  the  prophets, 
then  the  people  said  one  to  another,  '  What  is 
this  that  is  come  to  the  son  of  Kish?  Is  Saul 
also  among  the  prophets  ?  " 

The  spirit  of  prophecy  was  bestowed  upon 
him  as  a  fitting  preparation  for  the  proper  exer- 
cise of  the  kingly  function  ;  as  essential,  in  fact, 
to  the  right  administration  of  the  government. 
It  is  worthy  of  notice,  how,  in  this  whole  ac- 
count, the  prophet  takes  precedence  of  the 
king,  the  religious  teacher  of  the  incumbent  of 
the  highest  political  office,  the  word  of  God  of 
the  exercise  of  arbitrary  power.  This  is  the 
order  of  precedence  that  God  has  established 
for  all  time.  Only  wicked  legislators  and  cor- 
rupt politicians  ever  seek  to  reverse  it.  And 
the  fact  that,  in  any  case,  the  attempt  is  made 
to  reverse  it,  is  an  unmistakable  mark  of  their 
wickedness  and  corruption. 


22  SAUL  AMONG    THE  PROPHETS, 

IV. 

THE    INQUIRY    OF    THE    PEOPLE     AND     THE    IMPOR- 
TANT  QUESTION. 

The  question,  "Is  Saul  also  among  the  proph- 
ets?" it  will  be  seen,  is  not  so  much  an  interro- 
gation as  it  is  an  ex|3ression  of  Avonder  at  the 
strans^e  event  that  had  come  to  the  son  of  Kish. 
What,  then,  we  are  led  to  inquire,  was  the 
ground  of  their  astonishment?  Not,  surely, 
that  a  fellow-being  had  suddenly  been  endued 
with  the  gift  of  inspiration  and  received  the 
prophetic  afflatus.  The  prophetic  had  been  a 
co-ordinate  part  of  their  own  history  as  a  nation. 
The  name  of  the  aged  prophet  who  had  judged 
Israel  so  long  must  have  become  familiar  to 
them  as  a  household  word.  Besides,  there  was 
the  school  of  the  prophets,  under  his  tuition. 
It  was  a  company  of  these  that  Saul  met,  when 
the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon  him,  and  he 
prophesied. 

The  astonishment  of  the  people  may  have 
arisen  from  the  same  cause  as  that  of  Saul  him- 
self when  Samuel  told  him  that  he  was  to  be 
king;  namely,  his  own  obscurity  and  that  of  his 


inE   INQUIRY   OF   THE   PEOPLE.  23 

family.  On  that  memorable  occasion  he  is  said 
to  have  answered,  "Am  not  I  a  Benjamite,  of 
the  smallest  of  the  tribes  of  Israel?  and  my 
family  the  least  of  all  the  families  of  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin?  Wherefore,  then,  speakest  thou 
so  to  me  ?  " 

There  was  that,  too,  in  the  character  of  Saul, 
that  gave  little  promise  of  royal  dignity  and  ele- 
vation, lie  seems  to  have  been  naturally  timid 
and  shrinking,  as  the  incident  just  mentioned 
indicates.  Another  incident  places  this  charac- 
teristic in  still  more  strikinsf  lis^ht.  When  the 
day  of  his  inauguration  came,  and  the  sacred 
lot,  as  it  was  given  forth,  fell,  first  upon  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin,  and  then  upon  the  family  of 
Matri,  and  finally  upon  Saul  the  son  of  Kish, 
the  prospective  monarch  could  nowhere  be 
found.  "  Therefore,"  it  is  said,  "  they  inquired 
of  the  Lord  further,  if  the  man  should  yet  come 
thither;  and  the  Lord  answered,  'Behold,  he 
hath  hidden  himself  among  the  stuff.'"  That  such 
a  youth  should  suddenly  lose  all  his  timidity, 
and  stand  forth  boldly  and  prophesy  among  the 
prophets,  was,  surely,  not  a  little  remarkable. 

Marvellous  as  it  seemed  that  Saul  should  ap- 


24  SAUL   AMONG    THE   PROPHETS. 

pear   among  the    prophets,   the    people  were 
nevertheless  right  glad  to  receive  him  as  their 
sovereign,  when  he  was  at  length  brought  forth 
from  his  hiding-place  and  stood  among  them. 
And  it  is  not  a  little  interesting  to  notice  on 
what  ground  they  predicated  their  estimate  of 
him.     It  shows  how  little  they  were  prepared 
to   appreciate   moral  excellence   and    spiritual 
greatness  ;  how  much  they  had  fallen  under  the 
dominion  of  the  senses.     It  was  noticed  that  he 
was  higher  than  any  of  the   people   from   his' 
shoulders  and  upward.     As  if  greatness  of  stat- 
ure were  any  index  of  greatness  of  soul.  As  if 
weight  of  muscle  were  indicative  of  weight  of 
intellect,    or    character    and    executive   ability 
were  to  be  estimated  in  pounds  avoirdupois. 
Nevertheless,  height  of  stature  seems  to  have 
been  the  thing  that  specially  impressed  the  peo- 
ple, and  determined  their  choice.     "And  all  the 
people  shouted,  and  said,  God  save  the  king." 

•V. 

MORAL  INCONGRUITIES. 

The  question,  "  Is  Saul  also  among  the  proph- 
ets ? "  is  one  that  we  are  inclined  to  raise  for 


MORAL  INCONORUITIES.  25 

another  reason.  We  know  that  Sanl  was  a  bad 
man.  It  was  doubtless  in  allusion  to  him  that 
it  was  said,  "  I  gave  them  a  king  in  mine  anger, 
and  took  him  away  in  my  wrath."  When  the 
people  clamored  for  a  king  to  be  appointed 
them,  it  was  foretold  what  should  be  the  char- 
acter of  his  reign.  It  was  described  as  an  un- 
mitigated tyranny.  That  description  conclud- 
ed, "  And  ye  shall  cry  out  in  that  day  because 
of  your  king  which  ye  shall  have  chosen  you, 
and  the  Lord  will  not  hear  you  in  that  day." 
Only  a  wicked  prince  could  have  fulfilled  this 
prophecy.  We  know  that  Saul  did  fulfil  it  to 
the  very  letter.  We  know  that  he  was  charac- 
teristically jealous  and  sullen,  melancholy  and 
misanthropic,  and  that  he  became  more  and 
more  unscrupulous  and  tyrannical  till  death 
closed  his  guilty  career.  It  is  the  moral  incon- 
gi'uity  between  such  a  character  and  the  holiness 
that  we  feel  belongs  to  the  spirit  of  inspiration, 
that  awakens  our  astonishment  that  they  could 
have  been  brought  into  such  intimate  conjunc- 
tion ;  that  a  man  who  became  so  badly  emi- 
nent should  have  been  even  temporarily  inspired 
of  God.     It   is    in    view    of  this*  incongruity 


26  SAUL  AMONG    THE   PROPHETS, 

that  we  are  impelled  to  exclaim,  "  Is  Saul  also 
amoDg  the  prophets  ?  " 

But  Saul  does  not  stand  aloue  in  this  ambig- 
uous position.  Balaam,  the  son  of  Besor,  who 
loved  the  wages  of  unrighteousness,  and  vv'hose 
whole  course,  both  before  and  afterwards,  was  in 
open  contradiction  to  goodness  and  rectitude', 
was,  nevertheless,  'temporarily  inspired.  JSTor 
do  we  forget  that  among  the  disciples  first  sent 
forth  by  our  Saviour  to  preach  the  gospel,  and 
furnished  for  the  occasion  with  such  gifts  as  in- 
spiration only  could  bestow,  was  Judas,  one  of 
the  twelve,  who  also  betrayed  him.  These 
lives,  so  darkened  by  sin,  were  for  brief  inter- 
vals illuminated  with  the  holiest  light.  Though 
their  ordinary  course  was  that  of  evil,  waxing 
worse  and  worse,  they  were  for  a  time,  it  would 
seem,  brought  by  the  power  of  God  into  con- 
formity with  goodness  and  truth. 

But  we  must  remark,  in  regard  to  them,  that 
though  they  were  manifestly  among  the  proph- 
ets, and  undoubtedly  spake  by  inspiration,  such 
are  not  the  characters  that  have  been  made  the 
vehicles  for  the  establishment  of  any  part  of  the 
ground-work»of  our  faith.     That "  sure  word  of 


NEED   OF  MORjlL  DISCRIMINATlOll^,  27 

prophecy  "  to  which  wc  "  do  well  that  wo  take 
heed,"  was  uttered  by  "holy  meu,  who  spake  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  God 
has  chosen  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  His 
lively  oracles  to  our  race  only  such  as  were  in 
harmony  with  the  work  to  which  they  were  call- 
ed. 

If  the  spirit  of  inspiration  has  sometimes  fall- 
en upon  evil  men,  overmastering  them  as  a  di- 
vine possession,  and  counterworking  their  evil 
for  a  time,  this,  so  far  from  weakeniug  our  con- 
fidence in  the  mission  of  prophets  and  apostles, 
rather  tends  to  confirm  it,  by  showing  how  lit- 
tle the  evil  that  is  in  the  world  is  able  to  resist 
the  spirit  that  is  in  them.  How  possible  it  is 
that  an  evil  agent  may  be  pressed  into  the  ser- 
vice of  God,  and  made  to  work  obediently 
against  his  most  cherished  purposes.  In  short, 
how  much  greater  is  He  who  is  in  the  true 
prophet  than  he  that  is  in  the  world. 

NEED  OF  MORAL  DISCRIMINATION. 

"\A"e  need  to   make  a  very  broad  distinction 
between  the  truth  and  its  advocates ;  between  a 


28  SAVL  AMONG   THE  PROPHETS, 

good  cause  and  the  agents  by  whom  it  is  sought 
to  be  promoted ;  between  beneficent  institu- 
tions and  those  who  may  be  for  a  time  identified 
with  them.  K  a  liar  speaks  the  truth,  is  it, 
thereby,  rendered  any  less  true?  If  habitual 
parsimony  is,  on  some  special  occasion,  moved 
with  a  generous  impulse,  is  benevolence  ren- 
dered any  less  commendable  ?  If  a  son  of  per- 
dition lends  his  efibrts  to  the  promotion  of  a 
righteous  cause,  is  it  therefore  any  less  right- 
eous ?  Surely  not.  And  this  single  considera- 
tion is  sufficient  to  silence  the  whole  of  that  hos- 
tile casuistry  in  which  Christianity  and  the  Chris- 
tian church  are  made  to  bear  the  odiimi  of  all 
the  ungodly  characters  and  evil  practices  that 
shelter  themselves  under  the  Christian  name. 
"We  would  not  be  understood  as  oflfering  any 
apology  for  such  inconsistencies.  What  we  in- 
sist upon  is,  that  they  militate  not  in  the  least 
against  the  sacredness  of  the  cause,  or  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  institutions  with  which  they  may, 
for  the  time,  be  connected.  The  cause  must 
stand  upon  its  own  merits,  and  they  upon  theirs. 
"We  take  it  that  when  one  is  habitually  extor- 
tionate, if  his  word  is  not  to  be  depended  on  in 


THE   FALSE   PEOFESSOH.  29 

the  transactious  of  business,  or  if  he  be  an  evil 
speaker,  impure  in  conversation,  irascible  in 
temper,  or  a  drunkard,  or  profane,  these  are  in- 
dications, not  to  be  mistaken,  that  grace  is  want- 
ing. ''  How  shall  we  that  are  dead  to  sin  live 
any  longer  therein  ?  "  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  them.  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns, 
or  figs  of  thistles?  " 

THE  FALSE  PROFESSOR. 

Now  we  grant  all  that  the  casuist  can  consist- 
ently ask.  We  grant  that  there  are  false  pro- 
fessors of  religion  in  every  Christian  community  ; 
that  there  may  be  found  members  in  any  Chris- 
tian church  that  are  living  blemishes  on  its  faii^ 
fame.  "  Spots  in  your  feasts  of  charity,  when 
they  feast  with  you,  feeding  themselves  without 
fear."  But  when  the  opposer  would  hold  forth 
these  as  fair  representatives  of  the  cause  with 
which  they  for  the  time  stand  connected,  we  do 
not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  implication  is  not 
merely  erroneous,  it  is  positively  and  wickedly 
false.     Nothing  could  give   them   such   undue 


30  SAUL   AMONG    THE   PROPHETS. 

prominence  but  the  glaring  contrast  that  evi- 
dently subsists  between  the  profession  of  such 
individuals  and  their  practice.  They  are  exter- 
nally identified  with  the  church,  but  not  truly 
of  it.  They  belong  to  the  church,  as  barnacles 
belong  to  the  ship ;  as  excrescences,  that  mar 
its  beauty  and  impede  its  progress.  When  the 
casuist  is  himself  a  disciple  of  a  different  faith, 
and  points  to  the  inconsistencies  of  professors 
for  the  purpose  of  bringing  our  evangelical  faith 
into  disrepute,  we  feel  inclined  to  retort,  ^'  We 
thank  God  that  ever}^  true  church  of  Christ  has 
character  enough  to  make  such  connections  ap- 
pear inconsistent.  It  can  bear  the  transient 
disgrace  without  material  harm.  Who,  let  me 
ask,  ever  knew  of  a  society  of  Atheists,  or  De- 
ists, or  Universalists,  or  Spiritualists,  being  dis- 
honored by  the  ungodliness  and  immoralities  of 
its  members  ?  " 

In  the  true  church  of  Christ  the  evils  are 
brought  into  special  prominence  ;  because  they 
are  relieved  against  "the  pillar  and  ground  of 
the  truth  "  and  the  spotless  purity  of  our  evan- 
gelical faith.  We  wonder  at  the  ambiguous  po- 
sition of  the  false  professor,  and  are  fain  to  ex- 


CONSCIENTIOUS  SCRUPLES   CONSIDERED.  31 

claim  with  tlicm  of  ancient  time,  "Is  Saul  also 
among  the  prophets?"  But  Saul  among  the 
prophets,  or  Judas  among  the  apostles,  makes 
uothiug  against  the  sacredness  of  prophecy  on 
the  one  hand,  or  of  the  apostleship  on  the  oth- 
er. Xor  do  cases  like  these  make  in  the  least 
against  the  sacredness  of  the  Christian  cause,  or 
the  excellence  of  a  truly  godly  and  consistent 
church-membership. 

vin. 

A    CLASS  OF  CONSCIENTIOUS  SCRUPLES    CONSIDERED, 

A  class  of  conscientious  scruples  may  also  be 
met  with  the  same  consideration.  It  has  been 
asked,  Does  not  an  individual,  in  becoming  a 
member  of  a  church,  thereby  endorse  the  char- 
acter of  all  its  members?  And  here,  while  we 
would  offer  no  apology  for  a  neglect  of  disci- 
pline, that  often  may  become  an  occasion  for 
unfavorable  criticism,  we  unhesitatingly  reply 
that  he  does  not.  He  has  thereby  endorsed  the 
character  of  no  individual  on  earth,  not  even  his 
own.  What  he  has  endorsed  is  the  great  prin- 
ciple for  the  sake  of  which  the  church  exists, 


32  SAUL  AMONG   THE  PROPHETS. 

and  the  divine  purpose  she  was  designed  to  sub- 
serve. He  has  endorsed  that  which  gives  to 
the  organization  vitality  and  significance, —  the 
One  Lord,  One  Faith,  and  One  Baptism. 

And  in  so  doing  he  has  ofiered  the  strongest 
possible  protest  against  ungodliness  and  immor- 
ality, wherever  they  may  exist.  He  has.  pro- 
fessed his  faith  in  a  holiness  so  transcendent, 
that  it  is  required,  in  every  single  case,  that 
he  should  be  "  washed  with  the  washing  of  re- 
generation and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 
Is  Isaiah,  let  us  ask,  responsible  for  the  character 
of  Saul  ?  Is  John  responsible  for  that  of  Judas  ? 
So  neither  is  the  honest  and  consistent  member 
of  a  Christian  church  responsible  for  the  char- 
acter of  the  false  professor  who  may,  tempora- 
rily, be  associated  with  him.  But  let  us  not  fail 
to  notice,  in  this  connection,  how  strongly  every 
one  who  has  named  the  name  of  Christ  is  ad- 
monished to  depart  from  all  iniquity ;  to  shun 
the  very  appearance  of  evil;  to  live  soberly, 
righteously,  and  godly,  in  this  present  evil 
world,  that  we  give  none  occasion  to  the  adver- 
sary to  speak  reproachfully. 


MIXISTERIAL   APOSTASY.  33 


IX. 


DISCRlMIXATIOy  IN    THE    CASE    OF   MINISTERIAL 
APOSTASY. 

Still  more  strongly  is  an  application  of  our 
subject  suggested  to  another,  but  co-ordinate, 
topic ;  I  mean  ministerial  apostasy.  There 
have  been  men  who  have,  for  a  time,  been  emi- 
nently successful  in  the  work  of  the  Christian 
ministry ;  whose  labors  have  resulted  in  bring- 
ing multitudes  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth ; 
who  not  only  preached,  but  administered  the 
ordinances  of  the  gospel  with  gi'eat  acceptance, 
—  who  have  subsequently  fallen  from  this  emi- 
nence of  usefulness,  and  have  proved  them- 
selves unworthy  of  the  Christian  name  ;  and,  in 
some  instances,  they  have  passed  directly  over 
to  an  equal  eminence  in  infamy.  The  questions 
which  very  naturally  occur  in  such  cases  are, 
Are  conversions  under  such  a  ministry  genuine  ? 
And  are  the  ordinances  administered  by  them 
valid  ? 

Only  distinguish  between  the  truth  and  its 
advocates,  and  the  answer  is  clear.  The  truth 
is  the  instrument  to  which  belongs  converting 


34  SAUL  AMONG   THE  PROPHETS. 

grace.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  ageut  by  whom 
it  is  wielded.  The  chanore  that  we  call  conver- 
sion  is,  therefore,  divinely  wrought.  It  is  the 
divine,  not  the  human,  agent  that  gives  charac- 
ter to  it.  The  human  is  but  the  vehicle  by 
which  the  truth  is  brought  in  contact  with  the 
understanding.  Further  than  this,  it  sinks  into 
absolute  nothingness.  "  Who,"  asks  the  apostle, 
"who  is  Paul,  or  who  is  ApoUos,  but  minis- 
ters by  whom  ye  believed?  Paul  planted, 
Apollos  watered ;  but  God  gave  the  increase." 
"  The  excellency  of  the  power,"  he  continues,  "is 
of  God  and  not  of  us."  If,  then,  the  work  is 
divinely  wrought,  the  subsequent  apostasy,  or 
even  the  present  insincerity  of  the  human  agent 
cannot  affect  its  genuineness.  *'  Some,  indeed," 
says  Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the  Philippians, 
** preach  Christ  even  of  envy  and  strife,  and 
some  also  of  good-will.  The  one  preach  Christ 
of  contention,  not  sincerely,  supposing  to  add 
affliction  to  my  bonds ;  but  the  other  of  love, 
knowing  that  I  am  set  for  the  defence  of  the 
gospel.  What  then?  Notwithstanding,  every 
way,  whether  in  pretence  or  in  truth,  Christ  is 


DISCRIMINATION  AS    TO    ORDINANCES.  35 

preached ;  and  I  tlierciu  do  rejoice,  yea,    and 
will  rejoice." 


DISCRIMINATION    AS     TO    THE    ORDINANCES. 

Again,  as  to  the  validity  of  the  ordinances ; 
this  must  depend  upon  two  conditions.  The 
first  is,  whether  the  observance  be  really  of 
Christ's  appointment.  That  cannot  be  a  Chris- 
tian ordinance  that  has  not  been  established  by 
the  express  authority  of  Christ.  The  first 
question  to  ask,  then,  in  regard  to  any  observ- 
ance purporting  to  be  Christian,  is,  does  it 
bear,  clear  and  unmistakably,  the  image  and  su- 
perscription of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  ? 
If  it  cannot  show  this  proof  it  is  invalid,  how- 
ever smuggled  into  general  acceptance.  By  no 
art  ecclesiastic  can  a  mere  human  invention, 
however  reverently  observed,  whatever  circum- 
stances of  solemnit}^  may  be  thrown  around  it, 
be  lifted  to  the  position  and  stamped  with  the 
seal  of  genuineness. 

The  second  condition  concerns  the  candidate 
himself.     It  is,  that  he  have  faith.     "  Without 


36  SAUL  AMONG    THE  PROPHETS. 

faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God."  "What- 
soever is  not  of  faith  is  sin."  Indeed,  without 
faith  it  would  not  be  an  act  of  obedience  to 
Christ  at  all.  It  must  be  as  obvious  as  any 
truism  can  be  that  a  Christian  faith  is  essential 
to  the  right  observance  of  a  Christian  ordinance. 
It  is  a  transaction  between  the  believer  and  his 
Saviour,  by  means  of  which  he  holds  commun- 
ion with  him,  and  receives  grace  from  him.  The 
administrator's  place  is  entirely  subordinate. 
The  validity  of  Christian  ordinances,  as  well  as 
the  genuineness  of  conversion,  rests  on  the  Di- 
vine agency  present  rather  than  the  human. 

Let  us  only  distinguish  properly  between  the 
truth  and  its  advocates,  between  Christian  insti- 
tutions and  those  who  may,  temporarily,  be 
identified  with  them,  and  our  deepest  question- 
ings are  forthwith  resolved.  The  human,  the 
transient,  the  perishable,  passes  away;  but 
the  Divine,  the  Spiritual,  the  Eternal,  remains 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever.  Our  faith  must 
stand,  not  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the 
power  of  God.  Though  Saul  was  among  the 
prophets,  and  Judas  was  among  the  apostles, 
there  yet  remains  '*the  foundation  of  apostles 


DISCRIMINATION  AS    TO   ORDINANCES.  37 

and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the 
chief  corner-stoue."  And  "Other  foundation 
can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid." 

Though  there    should   be   found  within   the 

pale  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  even  among 

those  with  whom  we  have  taken  sweet  counsel 

and  in  whose  company  we  have  often  walked  to 

the  house  of  God,  those  who  shall  fall  away, 

or  those    who   turn   the    grace    of   God    into 

lasciviousness,    even   denying    the    Lord    that 

bought  them ;  yet  amid  all  individual  changes 

that  Church  remains  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of 

the  truth,"  the  purchase  of  a  Saviour's  blood, 

the  light  of  the  world,  holding  forth  the  Word 

of  Life  to  a  race  rapidly  hastening  to  eternal 

death,  crowned  with  the  glory  of  a  completed 

redemption,  "  her  walls  Salvation  and  her  gates 

Praise."     And  though    in    the    ranks    of    the 

Christian   ministry  apostates  multiply,  till  the 

true  disciples  are  wont  to  exclaim,  "  Alas  !  that 

these  Sauls  should  ever  have  been  among  the 

prophets  !  "  nevertheless,  that  ministrj^  exists  by 

the  appointment  of  Christ,  and  with  it  remains 

the  promise  of  the  risen  Saviour :  "  Lo  !  I  am 

with  you  always,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world." 


88  SAUL  AMONG    THE   PROPHETS. 

XI. 

FAITH  MUST  STAND  NOT  IN  THE  FALLIBLE ^^  BUT  IN 
THE  INFALLIBLE. 

God  only  is  unchangeable.  Changefulness 
is  an  attribute  of  man.  There  is  a  mournful 
possibility  lying  in  the  way  of  every  individual. 
Humanly  speaking,  none  of  us  can  tell  what 
moral  position  he  may  occupy  in  the  coming 
years.  If  an  apostle,  gifted  with  the  highest 
inspiration,  after  having  been  caught  up  to  the 
third  heaven,  and  there  hearing  words  unuttera- 
ble, and  beholding  inefiable  glories,  felt  it  ne- 
cessary to  strive,  lest,  having  preached  to  oth- 
ers, he  himself  should  be  a  cast-away,  it  surely 
does  not  become  us  to  be  self-confident.  For 
aught  you  know,  dear  reader,  he  who  has 
preached  the  gospel  to  you  with  much  assur- 
ance ;  who  has  buried  you  in  baptism,  in  your 
obedience  to  Christ ;  from  whose  hands  you 
have  received  the  symbols  of  a  Saviour's  dying 
love ;  whose  timely  word  of  admonition  has 
made  you  braver,  truer,  nobler,  stronger,  in 
all  spiritual  grace  and  strength ;  warned  you  in 
the  hour  of  danger,  counselled  you  in  your  dark- 


STAXDARD    OF  FAITH.  89* 

ness,  consoled  you  in  your  sorrow,  encouraged 
you  in  your  despondency,  and  contributed  in 
numberless  ways  to  your  growth  in  grace,  — 
may  end  his  days  in  utter  ungodliness,  a 
wrecked  and  ruined  apostate. 

We  shrink  with  instinctive  horror  from  such 
a  result.     Nevertheless  it  is  a  possibility,  —  a 
possibility  not  to  be  set  aside,  while  the  peril- 
ous gift  of  free  agency  remains.     But  that  pos- 
sibility should  teach  us  how  needful  it  is  that 
our  faith  should  learn  to  stand    alone ,  —  how 
needful   it  is  that  we  look  steadfastly  beyond 
the  poor,  and  weak,  and  fallible  human  instru- 
mentality to  the  divine  Being,  who  never  disap- 
points the  confidence  that  rests  in  His  Eternal 
Power  and  Godhead ;  according  to  whose  eter- 
nal purpose,  and  in  whose  hand,  the  instrumen- 
tal agency  has  been  used.    In  short,  Itow  impor- 
tant it  is  that  our  faith  be  rooted  and  grounded 
in  eternal  verities.      Moreover,  let  us  observe 
how  it  becomes  us  to  watch  and  pray,  that  we 
enter  not  into  temptation  ;  that  we  pray  with  all 
prayer,  and  watch  thereunto  with  untiring  vigi- 
lance, that  we  may  be  kept  by  the  power  of 
God,  through  faith,  unto  salvation. 


n. 

DEFECTIVE  OBEDIEJYCE. 


CHAPTER  n. 

DEFECTIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

1. 

SAUL*S  DISOBEDIENCE  AND  THE  PROPHET* S  REBUKE, 

HE  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  first  Book 
'^V\  ^^  Samuel  records  a  portion  of  Old  Tes- 
tament history  of  peculiar  interest  in 
itself,  and  of  additional  interest  because 
of  the  use  that  has  been  made  of  it  in 
the  casuistry  of  the  caviller.  In  the  first  verses 
of  this  chapter  the  prophet  is  represented  as  ad- 
dressing Saul,  king  of  Israel,  in  these  words : 
"  The  Lord  sent  me  to  anoint  thee  to  be  kinor 

o 

over  his  people,  over  Israel :  now  hearken  thou 
unto  the  voice  of  the  words  of  the  Lord.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts  ;  I  remember  that  which 
Amalek  did  to  Israel,  how  he  laid  wait  for  him 
by  the  way  when  he  came  up  from  Egypt. 
Now  go  and  smite  Amalek,  and  utterly  destroy 
all  that  they  have,  and  spare  them  not,  but  slay 

43 


44  DEFECTIVE   OBEDIENCE. 

both  man   and  woman,    infant    and   suckling, 
camel  and  ass." 

Saul  accepts  the  commission,  and,  at  the  head 
of  an  army  of  two  hundred  thousand  men  and 
ten  thousand  men  of  Judah,  goes  forth  to  the 
work  of  extermination.  Separating  the  Kenites 
from  the  Amalekites,  because  they  had  showed 
kindness  to  Israel  when  they  came  out  of 
Egypt,  the  doomed  race  are  smitten  from  Havi- 
lah  to  Shur.  But  so  far  from  carrying  out  ful- 
ly the  edict  of  destruction,  Saul  and  the  people 
spared  Agag  and  the  best  of  the  spoil ,  and  of 
the  oxen  and  of  the  fatliugs,  and  of  the  lambs, 
and  all  that  was  good ;  but  everything  that  was 
vile  and  refuse,  that  they  destroyed  utterly. 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  ascribe  this  conduct 
of  Saul,  in  sparing  Amalek,  to  any  more  wor- 
thy motive  than  a  vain  desire  to  have  the  cap- 
tive Idng  to  grace  the  triumph  which  he  felt 
sure  he  was  to  eujoy  when  he  came  into  his 
own  land.  Nor  can  we  suppose  that  any  high- 
er motive  than  covetousness  prompted  him  to 
spare  the  best  of  the  spoil.  At  all  events,  it 
was  certain  he  had  not  fulfilled  his  commission. 
He  was  sent  forth  on  a  mission  of  chastisement ; 


SAUL^S   DISOBEDIENCE,  45 

he  had  returned  with  the  booty  of  a  plunderer. 
Saul  must  have  felt  that  he  was  now  occupying 
quite  an  equivocal  position.  He  had  not  been 
on  terms  of  mutual  confidence  with  the  proph- 
et for  some  time  before .;  for  this  was  not  the 
first  time  that  Saul  had  failed  to  obey  the  voice 
of  the  Lord.  There  was  little  reason  for  him 
to  think  that  he  would  now  be  received  into 
confidence. 

In  the  mean  time,  it  had  been  told  to  Samuel, 
**Saul  came  to  Carrael,  and,  behold,  he  set  him 
up  a  place,  and  is  gone  about,  and  is  passed  on, 
and  is  gone  down  to  Gilgal.  "  All  this,  proba- 
bl}^  to  avoid,  or  at  least  delay,  the  expected 
and  dreaded  meeting.  But  avoidance  is  impos- 
sible. Samuel,  it  is  said,  comes  to  SauJ ;  and 
Saul,  assuming  the  airs  of  undoubting  confi- 
dence and  conscious  rectitude,  meets  the  proph- 
et with  the  joyful  exclamation,  "Blessed  art 
thou  of  the  Lord  !  I  have  performed  the  word 
of  the  Lord."  Imagine,  if  possible,  the  look  of 
calm  majesty  and  keen  I'cbuke  which  the  proph- 
et turns  upon  the  trembling  king  as  he  in- 
quires, "What  meaneth  then  this  bleating  of  the 
sheep  in  my  ears,  and  this  lowing  of  the  oxen 


46  DEFECTIVE   OBEDIENCE. 

which  I  hear  ?  "  But  Saul  was  not  wantins:  in 
resources  for  such  an  occasion.  When,  indeed, 
was  ever  a  guilty  man  wanting  in  expedients  to 
hide  his  guilt?  It  was  the  people,  he  declares, 
who  had  spared  the  best  of  the  spoil.  As  if 
the  people  could  have  done  it  without  their 
leader's  consent  and  complicity.  But  he  fur- 
ther affirms  the  purpose  to  have  been  an  entirely 
honorable  one.  They  have  spared  this  spoil, 
he  tells  the  prophet,  "  to  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord 
thy  God."  As  if  such  an  oblation  could,  by 
any  possibility,  be  accepted. 

He  has  no  opportunity  to  offer  reasons  for 
the  sparing  of  Agag  before  the  prophet's  voice 
arrests  him  once  more.  And  Samuel  said, 
"  Hath  the  Lord  as  great  delight  in  burnt-offer- 
ings and  sacrifices,  as  in  obeying  the  voice  of 
the  Lord?  Behold,  to  obey  is  better  than  sacri^ 
fice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams.  For 
disobedience  is  as  the  sin  of  witchcraft,  and 
stubbornness  is  as  iniquity  and  idolatry.  Be- 
cause thou  hast  rejected  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
he  hath  also  rejected  thee  from  being  king." 
The  sequel  is  told  in  the  following  words : 
"Then  said  Samuel,   bring   ye   hither  to   me 


SCEPTICAL   CAVILS.  A:l 

Agag,  the  king  of  the  Amalckites.  And  Agag 
came  nnto  him  delicately.  And  Agag  said, 
Surely,  the  bitterness  of  death  is  past.  And 
Samuel  said,  As  thy  sword  hath  made  women 
childless,  so  shall  thy  mother  be  childless 
among  women.  And  Samuel  hewed  Agag  in 
pieces,  before  the  Lord,  in  Gilgal.  Then  Sam- 
uel went  to  Eamah,  and  Saul  went  up  to  his 
own  house,  in  Gibeah  of  Saul.  And  Samuel 
came  no  more  to  see  Saul  unto  the  day  of  his 
death  :  nevertheless  Samuel  mourned  for  Saul, 
and  the  Lord  repented  that  he  had  made  Saul 
king  over  Israel." 

n. 

SCEPTICAL  CAVILS. 

t 

Scepticism  has  persistently  used  this  account 
for  a  very  different  purpose  from  that  of  enforc- 
ing the  lesson  which  it  teaches.  It  has  been 
pressed  into  service  for  the  purpose  of  making 
out  the  charge  of  cruelty  against  the  Hebrews, 
and  by  consequence  against  the  God  of  the  Pie- 
brews.  It  is  enough  for  the  corroboration  of  a 
Christian  faith,  that  the  credibility  and  inspira- 


48  DEFECTIVE   OBEDIENCE, 

tion  of  the  Scriptures  do  not  rest  on  our  ability 
to  vindicate  the  ways  of  God  to  man,  in  every 
case.  His  ways,  it  must  be  admitted,  are  not 
our  ways,  or  his  thoughts  our  thoughts.  He 
judges  from  a  loftier  view  than  any  we  are  com- 
petent to  take,  from  a  higher  wisdom  than  any 
we  can  fully  comprehend.  There  are  mysteries 
in  his  providential  dealings  that  we  cannot  ex- 
plain, and  so  there  are  in  his  judicial  govern- 
ment. Do  we  charge  the  Creator  with  cruelty 
because  of  the  ravages  of  earthquakes,  fires,  and 
floods?  Shall  we  then  arraign,  and  try  by  our 
limited  standards,  the  putting  forth  of  some  act 
of  that  Creator's  retributive  justice  ?  It  were 
surely  wiser  far  to  admit  that  there  are  heights 
in  the  divine  purposes  which  our  highest  wis- 
dom cannot  reach,  and  'depths  in  the  divine 
counsels  that  our  sounding-lines  cannot  fathom. 
But  a  partial  explanation,  in  this  case,  one 
which  is  sufficient  to  parry  the  force  of  hostile 
criticism,  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
Amalekites  were  the  bitter,  unrelenting,  and 
cruel  foes  of  Israel ;  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration persistently  seekiug  their  destruction. 
Without  the  least  provocation,  they  came  from 


SCEPTICAL   CAVILS.  49 

their  land,  on  the  southern  border  of  Canaan, 
to  attack  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness.  De- 
feated in  a  most  sanguinary  battle,  they  returned 
to  their  own  land,  but  with  the  purpose  ever 
cherished  to  frustrate  the  purpose  of  God  in 
the  peaceful  establishment  of  Israel  in  the 
promised  land.  They  made  frequent  raids 
upon  the  borders  of  Israel,  and,  in  the  days  of 
the  judges,  joined  with  their  enemies,  the 
Midianites,  to  make  war  upon  them.  To  de- 
feat the  purpose  of  God  in  the  settlement  of 
his  people,  and  thus  to  defeat  his  purposes 
of  mercy  to  our  guilty  race,  — this  was  the  un- 
gracious task  which  Amalek  had  undertaken. 
God  had  now  borne  with  them  till  the  cup  of 
theu'  iniquities  was  full,  and  therefore  deter- 
mined to  blot  out  the  name  of  Amalek  from 
under  heaven.  ■^' 

But  why  this  summary  slaughter  of  Agag, 
after  he  had  been  disarmed,  and  when  he  was 
held  a  powerless  and  therefore  harmless  cap- 
tive? Undoubtedly  Agag  had  been  a  most 
cruel  and  bloodthirsty  prince.  As  much  is 
indicated  in  the  language  of  the  prophet :  "  As 
thy  sword  hath  made  women  childless,  so  shall 


50  DEFECTIVE   OBEDIENCE. 

thy  mother  be  childless  among  women."  His 
cruelty,  his  perfidy,  his  inhumanity,  and  his 
hi2:h-handed  rebellion  asfainst  the  laws  both 
of  God  and  man,  are  sufficient  to  justify  the 
judgments  that  made  his  life  the  forfeit  of  his 
crimes.  It  is  neither  wise,  nor  politic,  nor 
humane,  nor  merciful,  nor  just,  that  the  chief 
of  a  great  rebellion  should  go  unpunished. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  Saul's  commission,  be- 
sides having  the  authority  of  God,  had  every 
corroborative  circumstance  that  reason  could 
presume  to  ask.  His  disobedience,  and  the 
prophet's  reproof,  serve  to  enforce  this  one 
important  lesson :  "Behold,  to  obey  is  better 
than  sacrifice." 

m. 

THE   LESSON  CONSIDERED. 

This  lesson,  so  rigorously  applied  in  this 
particular  case,  has  all  the  characteristics  of 
a  general  principle ;  and,  therefore,  finds  as 
ready  and  forcible  an  application  in  every  other 
case  that  can  occur  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race.  Where  God's  will  is  known,  the  only 
position  at  all  consistent  for  a  rational  creature 


THE   LESSON  CONSIDERED.  61 

is  that  of  unquestioning,  uncompromising  sub- 
mission. Where  his  command  is  given,  we 
may  not  think  to  alter,  to  abridge,  or  supple- 
ment that  command.  Our  duty  is  simple : 
that  of  full,  unreserved,  undeviating  obedience. 
This  lesson  is  enforced,  in  the  history  of  Saul, 
rather  negatively  than  positively.  The  positive 
side  is  seen  in  the  first  pl-ayer  ofiered  by  Saul 
of  Tarsus :  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me 
to  do?" 

Saul's  first  error,  it  will  be  seen,  was  that  of 
defect.  He  had  commenced  the  work  assiirued 
him,  and  carried  it  forward  successfully.  But 
he  had  failed  to  complete  what  he  had  begun. 
He  rebelled,  not  in  what  he  had  done,  but  in 
what  he  had  left  undone,  in  that  he  turned 
from  the  divine  command  to  his  own  wisdom, 
and  stayed  his  hand  too  soon.  This  error 
wrought  all  his  subsequent  disasters,  lost  for 
him  and  his  posterity  the  throne  of  Israel,  and 
brought  him  finally  to  a  violent  death. 

Bear  in  mind  the  strong  terms  in  which  our 
Saviour  and  the  apostles  urge  upon  us  this 
lesson  of  obedience:  "No  man,  having  put 
his  hand  to  the  plough,  and  looking  back,  is  fit 


52  DEFECTIVE    OBEDIENCE. 

for  the  kinofclom  of  God."  "  He  that  taketh  not 
his  cross,  and  folio weth  after  me,  is  not  worthy 
of  me."  These  passages  place  before  us,  in 
most  striking  light,  the  dangers  of  defective 
obedience.  Indeed,  where  the  authority  is 
plainly  revealed,  pointing  out  a  plain  \)^\\\  for 
us  to  follow,  and  we  turn  aside  from  that  path, 
we  place  ourselves  in  active  rebellion  against 
him ;  and  thereby  renounce  all  title  to  that  rich 
inheritance  of  blessings  purchased  for  us  by 
a  Saviour's  precious  blood,  and  which,  though 
solely  the  gift  of  divine  grace,  can  nevertheless 
be  received  only  in  the  line  of  obedience. 
The  law  of  the  kingdom  of  grace  the  apostle 
announces  to  be  this :  "  To  those  who,  by 
patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  seek  for 
glory,  honor,  immortality,  Eternal  Life."  How 
urgently  does  he  press  upon  the  early  Chris- 
tians the  imp(^rtance  of  a  close,  practical  ad- 
herence to  the  word  of  God  !  expressing  his 
astonishment  that  any  should  swerve  from  it, 
and  his  doubt  of  such  as  have  turned  aside 
unto  another  gospel,  and  declaring  "though 
we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any  other 


7.V   THE    CHRISTIAN  CHURCH,  53 

gospel  unto  you  than  that  we  have  pleached, 
let  him,  be  accursed." 


IV. 


ILLUSTRATED  Ilf  THE  HISTORY  OF    THE   CHRISTIAN 

CHURCH, 

But  for  the  failure  to  comply  with  the  com- 
mand of  Christ  and  the  counsel  of  the  apostles, 
how  different  a  history  might  have  been  that 
of  the  Christian  Church !  Her  whole  course 
would  have  been  a  pathway  of  light  and  glory, 
and  to-day  she  might  stand  forth  in  the  beauty 
of  holiness,  like  the  woman  clothed  with  the 
sun.*  But,  alas  !  right  under  the  eyes  of  the 
apostles,  and  in  spite  of  all  their  vigilance,  the 
disposition  manifested  itself  to  turn  from  the 
pure  word  of  God,  and  render  to  him  only  a 
defective  obedience.  Thus  early  were  visible 
the  very  evils  that  subsequently  grew  so  rapidly 
into  the  greatness  that  resulted  in  the  proud 
domination  and  enormous  usurpations  of  the 
Man  of  Sin,  and  which  plunged  the  Christian 
nations  into  that  long  night  of  ignorance  and 
superstition  know  as  the  Dark  Ages,  —  a  period 


54  DEFECTIVE   OBEDIENCE. 

in  which  the  true  faith  seemed  buried  under 
a  more  than  heathen  darkness  and  idolatry. 

This  tendency  to  leave  incomplete  the  work 
which  God  assigns  us,  and  turn  from  our  Heaven- 
ly Guide  to  our  merely  human  w^isdom,  — oh,  it  is 
the  tendency  of  human  nature  !  It  is  the  natural 
working  of  that  perversity  of  the  human  heart 
that  gives  painful  evidence  of  the  prevalence  of 
sin.  How  much  of  energy  is  lost  to  the  cause  of 
Christ  by  stopping  to  gather  up  the  spoils,  or  to 
secure  a  triumph  !  One  can  hardly  read  the 
history  of  any  one  of  those  great  movements  in 
the  religious  world  called  reformations,  without 
mingling  with  emotions  of  joy  that  so  much  good 
was  done  feelings  of  deep  regret  that  the  work 
was  left  so  incomplete. 

■V. 

THE   ItEFORMATIOKS    OF   THE   SIXTEENTH  AND 
EIGHTEENTH   CENTURIES. 

Luther  hurled  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  into  the  midst  of  Rome,  with  all  the 
energy  of  his  own  great  soul ;  a  live  coal, 
which  he  had  taken,  all  glowing,  from  the 
altar   of    his   God;    and  the   new  seed  thus 


THE    GREAT  JIEFOEMATIONS,  55 

sown  was  bearing  its  fruit  all  over  Europe, 
some  thirty,  some  sixty,  and  some  an  hundred 
fold.  But  Luther  could  not  consent  to  take 
the  Bible  alone  as  the  standard  both  of  his 
faith  and  practice ;  and  so,  abandoning  the 
great  Protestant  principle,  he  stayed  his  hand, 
and  left,  still  entire,  in  the  churches  that  grew 
up  under  his  labors,  all  the  Roman  Catholic 
observances  and  implements  of  superstition 
against  which  there  had  not  been  levelled  some 
specific  Scripture  prohibition.  The  leaven  of 
corruption  thus  left  in  these  churches  did  not 
fail  to  bear  its  fruit  in  due  season.  Luther 
and  his  co-laborers  also  felt  that  they  must 
organize  this  w^ork,  and  give  it  shape  and.  con- 
sistency, instead  of  leaving  it  to  shape  itself 
into  the  simple  modes  of  the  New  Testament. 
They  did  organize  it,  accordingly,  and  made 
it  intensely  Lutheran.  And  the  result  was 
a  Lutheran  hierarchy  that,  in  some  instances, 
has  developed  a  tyranny  and  corruption  equal 
to  that  of  ihe  hierarchy  of  Rome  itself. 

Li  En2:laiid,'he  real  reformation  was  frowned  * 
upon  by  the  dominant  church,  and  has  never 
been  accepted  by  it.     What  the  adherents  of 


,56  DEFECTIVE   OBEDIENCE, 

that  cliurch  called  the  reformation  was  not 
worthy  of  the  name.  It  accomplished  scarcely 
more  than  to  make  the  king  the  head  of  the 
church  instead  of  the  pope,  and  left  the  people 
only  less  burdened  under  the  oppressive  weight 
of  the  English  Episcopacy  than  they  had  been 
under  the  papal  rule. 

In  the  great  Methodist  movement  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  Wesley  and  his  coadjutors 
■proclaimed,  with  a  boldness  and  earnestness 
seldom  if  ever  suqDassed,  the  ruined  condition 
of  the  sinner  and  the  need  of  the  new  birth. 
And  this  doctrine  they  held  forth  as  a  flaming 
torch,  in  the  midst  of  a  cold,  speculative,  and 
half  atheistic  asre.     Acrainst  the  sleek  formalism 

o  o 

of  the  times,  they  persistently  asserted  that 
without  inward  spiritual  light,  without  religion 
in  the  soul,  there  was  no  religion  at  all,  and 
no  salvation.  With  these  pure  Scripture  truths 
their  own  souls  were  on  fire.  Others  soon 
caught  the  flame.  In  spite  of  jibes  and  jeers, 
in  spite  of  ridicule  and  persecution,  the  in- 
fluence of  their  preaching  spread  rapidly  ovei 
the  British  Isles,  and  was  borne  by  favoring 
gales  across  the  seas ;  till,  along  our  own  shores, 


THE    GREAT  REFORMATIONS,  57 

and  far  into  the  depths  of  American  wilds, 
sounded  forth  the  word  with  unwonted  energy, 
"Ye  must  be  born  again."  All  religious  de- 
nominations, in  whom  remained  a  spark  of 
true  vitality,  felt  the  quickening  glow  ;  converts 
were  multiplied  as  the  drops  of  the  morning. 
Incalculable  good  w^as  done.  How  great  the 
amount,  it  is  impossible  adequately  to  estimate  ; 
nor  can  it  be  estimated,  till  the  chiy  when 
Christ  shall  make  up  his  jewels.  And,  since 
so  much  good  was  done,  it  is  with  pain  that  we 
are  compelled  to*  notice  that  an  element  of  cor- 
ruption was  at  work,  in  the  very  midst  of  it, 
in  a  failure,  in  so  many  things,  to  adhere 
strictly  to  the  authority  of  the  word  of  God. 
Even  the  doctrine  of  inward  spiritual  light, 
often  left  unguarded,  was  made  the  ultimate 
test  of  religious  experience,  instead  of  itself 
being  subjected  to  the  test  of  the  written  word, 
and  the  religious  enthusiast  gave  himself  up 
to  inward  impulses  and  supposed  special  reve- 
lations, with  all  the  self-devotion  of  the  mystic. 
The  result  has  been  a  zeal  not  accordinsr  to 
knowledge,  and  a  wild  enthusiasm,  that  has 
often  manifested  itself  in  noisy  and  disorderly 


58  DEFECTIVE   OBEDIENCE. 

demonstrations.  The  doctrine  was  true.  The 
error  was,  that  the  experience  was  not,  in  all 
cases,  brought  to  the  test  of  ultimate  truth. 

But  the  gravest  error  of  all  was,  that  Wesley, 
like  Luther,  felt  that  he  must  put  this  move  - 
ment  into  leading-strings ;  like  Saul,  that  he 
must  gather  up  the  spoil,  and  secure  his  own 
triumph.  And  so  he  proceeded  to  organize  it, 
at  the  dictate  of  his  own  wisdom,  without  look- 
ing for  authority  to  the  word  of  God.  The 
result  was,  a  magnificent  piece  of  ecclesiastical 
machinery,  on  which  the  inventor  had  so  im- 
pressed his  personal  qualities  that  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  Wesley  was,  to  the  Methodist 
organization,  instead  of  Christ ;  the  whole 
pressed  into  subordination  to  his  one  will,  and 
that  one  will  the  supreme  law.  There  was  a 
vast  amount  of  genuine  spiritual  religion,  but 
it  was  compelled  to  find  its  external  develop- 
ment in  forms  and  modes  from  which  .the 
authority  of  the  Great  Head  of  the  church  was 
completely  excluded.  That  organization  is 
felt  to  be  more  and  more  burdensome,  and  the 
call  is,  ever  and  anon,  heard  for  revisions 
and  modifications.     But  no  changes  will  per- 


DEFECTS  IN  CHRISTIAN  SERVICE,  59 

mancntly  avail  that  stop  short  of  the  acknowl- 
edgmcut  of  the  Word  of  God  as  the  only  aud 
sufficient  rule,  aud  the  authority  of  God  as  the 
only  authority,  in  matters  of  religion,  both  ex- 
ternal and  internal. 

PREVALENT  DEFECTS  IN  CHRISTIAN  SERVICE. 

We  in  this  age  are  guilty  of  deficiencies ; 
but  our  defects  arise,  for  the  most  part,  from 
a  contrary  source.  Wo  fail  to  find  among  us 
the  glowing  zeal  and  devoted  energy  to  carry 
us  onward  to  the  fulness  of  the  measure  of 
Christian  obedience.  Our  defects  are  not 
those  of  excess  of  strength,  but  of  conscious 
weakness.  We  err  with  Joash,  King  of  Israel, 
who,  when  told  to  take  "the  arrow  w^hich  Elisha 
had  chosen  as  a  prophetic  symbol;  and  smite 
upon  the  earth,  smote  thrice,  and* stayed  his 
hand ;  whereas  he  should  have  smitten  five 
or  six  times :  then  should  he  have  smitten 
Syria  till  he  had  consumed  it ;  whereas  now  he 
could  smite  it  but  thrice.  Who  can  doubt 
that  there  is  urgent  need  that  we  put  more  of 


60  DEFECTIVE   OBEDIENCE, 

the  energies  that  God  has  given  us  into  our 
reli£:ious  activities  ?  A  little  of  the  service  of 
God  here  and  there,  and  at  intervals  only, 
while  the  best  of  our  energies  are  given  to 
worldly  ends  and  selfish  interests, — this  is 
the  common  rule.  "VYe  obey  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  but  partially,  while  we  make  sure  of  the 
best  of  the  spoil ;  and  our  successes  are  there- 
fore rendered  proportionally  less. 

We  enter  upon  the  fulfilment  of  the  divine 
command,  but  find  ourselves  discourao'cQ  and 
hindered  by  obstacles  that,  in  any  other  line  of 
action,  would  not  have  impeded  our  progress 
for  a  moment.  We  take  the  arrow  of  the 
Lord's  deliverance  and  smite  only  thrice,  where- 
as we  should  have  smitten  five  or  six  times. 
Would  to  God  that  the  indomitable  energy  of 
Luther,  and  the  fiery  zeal  of  Wesley  and  Whit- 
field, and  the  lofty  ardor  and  godly  earnestness 
of  Edwards  aM  the  Tenants,  pervaded  both  the 
ministry  and  membership  of  the  churches  of  the 
present  day  !  Would  to  God  that  all  the  Lord's 
people  were  prophets  !  Alas  I  our  obedience  to 
the  divine  commands  is  defective.  Our  imita- 
tion of  Christ,  our  Great  Exemplar,  is  defec- 


DEFECTS  IN  CHRISTIAN  SERVICE,  61 

tive ;  our  interest  iu  the  salvation  of  souls  is 
defective ;  our  labors  for  the  advancement  of 
Christ's  kingdom  are  defective ;  and  must  we 
not  own,  with  sorrow  and  shame,  as  the  root  of 
innumerable  evils,  that  our  love  to  Christ  is  al- 
so defective  ?  and  where  can  we  look,  over  the 
whole  field  of  our  religious  life,  that  we  are  not 
compelled  to  witness  the  sad  memorials  of  our 
deficiencies  ?  Oh,  we  need  more  of  spiritual  en- 
ergy, the  vital  energy  of  faith ;  need  to  put 
our  activities  into  the  hand  of  God,  to  be  used 
as  instruments  for  the  accomplishment  of  his 
purposes.  We  need  a  greater  holiness  of  aim 
and  consecration  of  purpose,  that  will  make  no 
reservations  for  our  selfishness ;  reserve  no 
gratifications  for  our  pride ;  leave  no  occasion 
for  our  indolence  ;  but  that  shall  destroy  utter- 
ly our  besetting  sins,  as  the  prophet  hewed 
Agag  in  pieces  before  the  Lord. 

We  need  more  of  vital  godliness,  more  of  the 
power  of  religion ;  a  clearer  demonstration  to 
the  world  that  the  Gospel  is  the  Power  of  God, 
— the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every 
one  that  believeth.  Can  we  endure  the  test 
which  Elijah  instituted  before  the  prophets  of 


62  DEFECTIVE   OBEDIENCE, 

Baal?  "The  God  that  answereth  by  fire,  let  him 
be  God."  Dare  we  submit  to  this  test  before 
an  unbelieving  world  ?  While  the  loftiest  mo- 
tives that  we  can  possibly  conceive  urge  us  to 
faithfulness  ;  while  the  iufinite  love  and  mighty 
sacrifice  of  Christ  enforce  the  lesson  of  obe- 
dience ;  while  Gethsemane  pleads,  and  Calvary 
urges,  and  Heaven  invites,  are  not  our  zeal  and 
energy  often  outdone  by  those  whose  inspira- 
tion is  brought  only  from  earthly  sources  ?  We 
may  rest  assured,  that,  when  our  consecration 
is  complete,  and  our  obedience  is  full,  God  will 
accept  the  oflfering,  and  the  fire  from  the  upper 
sanctuary  will  come  down  and  consume  the 
sacrifice. 


III. 
TSE  REBELLIOUS  SACRIFICE. 


CHAPTER  in. 

THE   REBELLIOUS    SACRIFICE. 
I. 

A  SECOND  LESSON  SUGGESTED. 

• 

,^HEEE  is   yet  another  lesson,  a  totally 

,|>p.    different  one  from  the   preceding,  but 

^^^    co-ordinate  with  it,  T\iiich  we  need  just  as 

^^^y     much  to  consider  :  namely,  that  we  can- 

^        not  supplement  our  defective  obedience 

by  any  subsequent  sacrifices. 

When  the  prophet  had  blasted  the  self-assur- 
ance of  the  guilty  king  by  the  pertinent  and 
searching  inquiry  :  "  What  meaneth  then  this 
bleating  of  the  sheep  in  mine  ears,  and  this 
lowinc^  of  the  oxen  which  I  hear?"  Saul  still  at- 
tempted  a  justification  of  himself.  It  can  hardly 
be  believed  that  he  was  thinkins:  much  of  sacri- 
fice  before ;  he  certainly  was  not  now,  under 
the  keen  rebuke  of  the  2)rophet,  in  a  very  devo- 
tional frame.  lie  was  probably  thinking  more 
6  Go 


66  TBE  REBELLIOUS  SACRIFICE, 

\y 
how  to  save  himself  from  the  chastisement 
which  he  knew  he  so  richly  merited.  The 
idea  of  sacrifice  was  only  the  fig-leaf  device  to 
hide  the  nakedness  of  conscious  guilt.  Thin  as 
the  subterfuge  is,  however,  he  is  disposed  to 
make  the  most  of  it. 

Finding  now  that  it  will  not  do  to  appro- 
priate and  use  all  this  booty  which  he  has  tak- 
en from  the  Amalekites  precisely  as  he  had  in- 
tended, the  thought  readily  occurs  to  him,  these 
are  precisely  the  right  materials  for  a  sacrifice. 
He  cannot  make  it  useful  to  himself;  suppose 
he  should  make  one  great  sacriticeof  the  whole, 
and  offer  it  to  the  Lord, — what  a  splendid  obla- 
tion it  will  make  !  Will  not  the  Lord  be  appeased 
by  such  a  noble  ofiering  ?  Will  not  the  prophet 
be  really  taken  with  such  an  ostentation  of  de- 
votion ?  A  capital  idea  !  It  will  make  this  spoil 
an  ofiering  in  a  double  sense  :  first,  an  offering 
to  his  own  vanity,  and,  second,  an  offering  to 
the  Lord.  Besides,  will  not  the  offering  of  the 
spoil  in  sacrifice  fulfil  the  work  that  had  been 
left  incomplete,  and  even  give  it  a  more  beauti- 
ful and  imposing  finish  than  had  originally  been 
designed?     And  so  he  tells   the    prophet   that 


A    SECOND   LESSON  SUGGESTED.  67 

they  have  brought  this  spoil  from  the 
Amalekites  :  "  for  the  people  spared  the  best  of 
the  sheep  and  of  the  oxen,  to  sacrifice  unto 
the  Lord  thy  God;  and  the  rest  we  have  ut- 
terly destroyed."  Whereupon  the  following 
colloquy  ensues  :  — 

"Then  Samuel  said  unto  Saul,  Stay,  and  I 
will  tell  thee  what  the  Lord  hath  said  to  me 
this  night.  And  he  said  unto  him,  Say  on. 
And  Samuel  said,  When  thou  wast  little  in  thine 
own  sight,  wast  thou  not  made  the  head  of  the 
tribes  of  Israel;  and  the  Lord  anointed  thee 
king  over  Israel  ?  And  the  Lord  sent  thee  on 
a  journey,  and  said.  Go  and  utterly  destroy  the 
sinners,  the  Amalekites,  and  fight  against 
them  until  they  be  consumed.  Wherefore, 
then,  didst  thou  not  obey  the  voice  of  the  Lord ; 
but  didst  fly  upon  the  spoil,  and  didst  evil  in 
the  sight  of  the  Lord?  And  Saul  said  unto 
Samuel,  Yea,  I  have  obeyed  the  voice  of  the 
Lord,  and  have  gone  the  way  which  the  Lord 
sent  me,  and  have  brought  Agag,  the  King  of 
Amalek,  and  have  utterly  destroyed  the 
Amalekites.  But  the  people  took  of  the  spoil, 
sheep  and  oxen,  the  chief  of  the  things  that 


68  THE   REBELLIOUS   SACRIFICE. 

should  have  been  utterly  destroyed,  to  sacrifice 
unto  the  Lord  thy  God  m  Gilgal.  And  Sam- 
uel said,  Hath  the  Lord  as  great  delight  in 
burnt  ofierings  and  sacrifices  as  in  obeying  the 
voice  of  the  Lord?  Behold,  to  obey  is  better 
than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of 
rams." 

When  it  is  finally  announced,  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  this  rebuke,  that  he  is  rejected  from 
being  king,  then  does  Saul  first  bethink  himself 
to  set  earnestly  about  the  business  of  repent- 
ance. He  now  confesses  his  transgression, 
craves  the  prophet's  pardon,  and  begs  him  to 
turn  again  with  him,  that  he  may  worship 
the  Lord.  But  his  repentance  comes  too  late. 
Samuel  decidedl}^  refuses,  but  repeats  that  the 
Lord  hath  rejected  him  from  being  king  over 
Israel.  As  the  prophet  turned  to  go  away,  the 
coming  retribution  must  have  seemed  awfully 
near,  and  intensely  real,  to  the  stricken  man. 
As  Samuel  turned  to  go,  Saul,  in  his  despera- 
tion, laid  hold  of  his  mantle,  and  it  rent. 
"And  Samuel  said  unto  him,  the  Lord  hath  rent 
the  kingdom  of  Israel  from  thee  this  day,  and 
hath  given    it  to  a  neighbor  of  thine  that  is 


SAUL^S  SECOND   ERROR.  69 

better  than  tlioii.  Also,  the  Strength  of  Israel 
will  not  lie,  nor  repent ;  for  he  is  not  man  that 
he  should  repent." 

n. 

CHARACTER  AND  PREVALENCE  OB'  THIS  ERROR. 

The  truth  is,  Saul's  last  error  is  worse  than 
the  first.  He  would  therein  fully  endorse  his 
first  disobedience,  and  would  even  invoke  God's 
endorsement  of  it  also.  So  far  from  confessing 
his  o-uilt,  he  would  clothe  it  in  all  the  sanctities 
of  the  hiirhest  acts  of  devotion.  Instead  of 
humblhig  himself  in  submission  to  the  divine 
authority,  and  seeking  direction  from  his  word, 
his  was  the  daring  impiety  of  presuming  to 
counsel  God,  and  prescribe  terms  to  him.  In 
short,  it  was  a  rebel  demanding  the  rights  of 
citizenship,  because  of  a  new  and  most  high- 
handed and  atrocious  act  of  rebellion.  It  was 
but  an  insult  and  a  mockery  to  thus  piece  out 
his  former  deficiencies  by  acts  of  devotion, 
which,  before  they  could  in  any  wise  be 
accepted,  required  that  the  worshipper  should  be 
truly  submissive  to  the  divine  will,  and  in  the 


* 
70  THE   REBELLIOUS  SACRIFICE. 


exercise  of  an  obedient  faith.  Sacrifices  were 
right  in  their  place,  when  offered  according  to 
the  divine  prescription;  but  obedience  was, 
and  ever  must  be,  first,  and  no  sturdiest  per- 
formaijce  of  one  class  of  duties  can  make  up 
for  our  neglect  in  another  class. 

It  would  seem  that  so  plain  a  lesson  should 
never  have  been  forgotten;  but  we  shall  not 
have  to  look  far  to  find  melancholy  proofs  that 
our  sinful  race  are  wonderfully  prone  to  forget 
it.  Departing  from  the  word  of  God,  and  then 
attempting  to  make  good  their  title  to  his  favor 
by  the  regularity  with  which  they  attended  to  the 
formalities  of  devotion,  was  the  crjdng  sin  of 
the  Israelites  from  the  first.  How  deep  and 
burning  is  the  indignation  with  which  the  proph- 
ets denounce  the  twofold  wickedness !  And 
thereby  do  they  show  that  the  evil  was  fear- 
fully prevalent  among  the  people,  throughout 
the  period  of  the  prophetic  history.  When 
our  Saviour  came,  he  found  the  Pharisees 
neglecting  the  most  common  obligations  w^hich 
they  owed  to  their  fellow-men,  and  with  no 
aptness  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  God,  nor  in- 
clination to  obey  him ;  but,  nevertheless,  mak- 


SAUL'S   SECOND  ERROR.  71 

ing  the    most    ostentatious    display   of    their 
devotions, —  tithing  mint,  and  anise,  and  cum- 
min, but  neglecting  the  weightier  matters  of  the 
law,  judgment,  mercy,  and  faith ;  and  binding 
heavy  burdens,  and  laying  them   upon   men's 
shoulders,   while   they   made    void    the   com- 
mandment-of  God  by  their  tradition.     What  *• 
a  spectacle  of  apostasy  did  that  nation  present ! 
keeping  up,   in  the   pride  of  imposing  cere- 
monial,   the   outward     semblance    of    religion 
after  the  life  of  it  was  gone  !     A  people  whose 
religious   life  was  only  of   this  galvanic  type 
was  surely  ripening  for  the  approaching  doom. 
Nor  shall  we  fail  to  find,  strewn  thick  along 
the  history  of  the   Christian  dispensation  and 
chiUTh,  the  sins  of  whicli  that  of  the  King  of 
Israel  is  a  type,  —  sins  that  call  loudly  for  the 
admonition  of  the  prophet  to  be  lifted  up  anew. 
"Behold,    to    obey   is    better   than    sacrifice." 
There  are  two  classes  of  these  evils,  each  of 
which  calls  for  a  special  notice. 


72  THE  REBELLIOUS   SACRIFICE. 


m. 


HUMAN  DEVICES  DISPLACE   THE   COMMANDMENTS 

OF  GOD. 

First  iu  order  are  those  in  which  the  com- 
mand of  God  is  unheeded,  and  some  human 
invention  is  substituted  in  its  place.  The 
apostolic  warning,  "  Let  no  man  spoil  you 
through  philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after  the 
traditions  of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of  the 
world,  and  not  after  Christ,"  clearly  indicates 
that  thus  early  this  class  of  evils  had  become 
fearfully  prevalent,  and  the  tendency  to  apos- 
tatize in  that  direction  had  become  alarmingly 
active.  The  Gospel  of  John  and  the  First 
Epistle  of  John  are  generally  believed  to  have 
been  written  purposely  to  counteract  this  ten- 
dency, and  bring  the  early  disciples  back  to 
the  simplicity  of  a  gospel  obedience.  That 
some  of  the  Pauline  epistles  were  written  with 
this  design  is  too  clearly  manifest  to  admit  of 
a  doubt.  When  the  voices  of  the  apostles  and 
first  teachers  of  Christianity  were  heard  no 
longer,  this  tendency  to  overlay  the  obedience 


HUMAN  DEVICES.  73 

of  faith  with  human  devices  developed  itself 
with  great  rapidity. 

Then  the  Episcopal  domination  began  to 
displace  the  autliority  of  Ilim  who  is  Head 
over  all  things  to  the  church.  The  boast  of 
antiquity  which  the  Episcopacy  puts  fortli  it 
\s  not  worth  while  to  dispute.  Its  progress 
can  be  traced  through  the  centuries,  in  a  suc- 
cession of  mitred  oppressors,  who  exercised 
a  rigorous  lordship  over  God's iieritagc  ;  in  the 
bloody  track  of  its  cruel  and  relentless  per- 
secutions, and  in  the  manifold  corruptions  to 
which  it  gave  rise  in  the  Christian  church. 
That  succession  reaches  back  at  least  to  very 
early,  if  not  to  apostolic,  times,  though  holding 
no  relation  whatever  to  the  apostles  themselves  ; 
and  from  those  early  da3^s  to  the  present  time 
has  never  ceased  to  preach  the  gospel  accord- 
ing to  Diotrephes,  who  loveth  the  pre-eminence. 
As  the  teachings  of  Jesus  were  more  and  more 
set  aside,  an  enslaving  ritualism  of  human 
prescription  was  made  to  bind  the  consciences 
of  men,  and  a  gorgeous  and  imposing  ceremonial 
was  substituted  for  the  \)\\v(i  worship  of  Ilim 
who  sceketh   such  to  worship  him  as  worship 


74  THE  REBELLIOUS  SACRIFICE, 

him  ill  spirit  and  in  truth.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  this  unholy  spirit  of  Antichrist 
polhitecl  everything  it  touched.  It  laid  ir- 
reverent hands  upon  the  institutions  of  the 
gospel,  whenever  and  wherever  it  could,  in  so 
doing,  serve  the  guilty  purposes  of  its  lofty 
and  growing  pretensions. 

IV. 

INFANT  BAPTISM,      DB.   BUSHNELL's    THEORY. 

So  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  third  century 
human  invention  had  found  a  substitute  for  one 
of  the  positive  institutions  of  the  church  of 
Christ,  which  has  ever  since  been  exceedingly 
popular  with  all  who  choose  to  disobey  the 
King  whom  God  hath  set  upon  his  holy  hill 
of  Zion.  We  refer  to  infant  baptism.  Tertullian 
is  the  first  Christian  writer  who  mentions  it,  and 
he  mentions  it  only  to  protest  against  it,  —  a 
fact  which  of  itself  is  sufficient  to  prove  its  non- 
apostolic  origin.  It  is  enough  to  condemn  the 
practice,  in  the  estimation  of  any  unsophisti- 
cated mind,  that  it  does  not  appear,  in  so  much 
as  the  remotest  allusion,  in  the  New  Testament 
writings,  nor  in  the  practice   of  the  apostles. 


INFANT  BAPTISM.  75 

Acid  to  this,  that  all  the  most  competent  histo- 
rians and  commentators  assure  us  that  it  had 
no  existence  till  long  after  the  apostolic  age. 

Dr.  Bushnell  has  devoted  the  first  half  of 
his  work  on  Christian  Nurture,  to  the  task  of 
concocting  a  plausible  theory  for  infant  baptism, 
by  which  to  lift  it  out  of  the  desuetude  into 
which  it  has  latterly  fallen.  But  his  argument 
is  suicidal.  He  tells  us  that  the  faith  of  the 
infant  is  included  in  that  of  the  parent,  and 
hence  the  propriety  of  its  baptism.  Even  if 
the  premises  were  true,  the  conclusion  does  not 
follow.  If  the  parent's  faith  includes  that  of 
the  child,  then  must  it  also  include  all  that 
that  faith  includes.  Anions:  the  thino's  in- 
eluded  in  a  true  Christian  faith  is  the  obedience 
of  faith ;  and  one  item  of  that  obedience  is 
baptism.  If,  then,  the  parent's  faith  is  to 
stand  for  that  of  the  child,  why,  we  ask,  in 
the  name  of  consistency,  does  not  his  obedi- 
ence stand  for  that  of  the  child  also,  and  con- 
sec^uently  his  baptism  stand  for  the  child's 
baptism?  And  the  practical  conclusion  that 
would  legitimately  follow  would  be,  that  the 
child   of  a   Christian   parent    does    not    need 


76  THE  REBELLIOUS   SACRIFICE. 

baptism ;  in  flict,  that  infant  baptism  is  out  of 
place,  and  manifestly  inappropriate. 

But  the  premises  are  false,  as  the  argument 
based  upon  them  is  self-contradictory.  We 
take  it,  if  any  man  has  faith,  he  has  it  to  him- 
self, before  God ;  and  if  any  human  being 
obeys  God,  he  obeys  for  himself,  and  not  for 
another;  as  each  of  us,  also,  must  give  account 
of  himself  to  God.  In  short,  moral  obligation 
is  strictly  individual  and  personal.  We  cannot 
do  another's  duties  for  him.  No  other  person 
can  do  ours  for  us.  Let  it  be  borne  in  mind 
that  baptism  is  never  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament  except  in  such  terms  as  imply  a 
conscious  subject,  and  a  voluntary  obedience. 
The  command  to  "be  baptized"  must  be  ad- 
dressed to  an  intelligent,  conscious  subject. 
He  would  justly  be  regarded  as  insane  who 
should  address  such  a  command  to  any  other. 
A  few  grains  of  common  sense  will  be  sufficient, 
too,  to  teach  any  one  that  such  a  command  can 
never  be  obeyed,  except  by  the  voluntary  act 
of  the  person  to  whom  it  is  -addressed.  It  will 
be  seen,  then,  that  this  command  of  Christ  is 
set  aside  just  so  far  as  infant  baptism  prevails. 


JiESPONSIBILITY  AS    TO    ORDINANCES.  77 

Could  there  be  a  more  clear  and  unmistakable 
instance  of  "teaching  for  doctrines  the  com- 
mandments of  men,"  and  "making  void  the 
commandments  of  God  by  human  tradition "  ? 
Is  it  not  the  very  error  of  the  King  of  Israel, — 
that  of  supplementing  the  deficiencies  of  his 
obedience  by  devices  of  his  own  ?  Or,  rather, 
it  is  the  forestalling  of  Christian  obedience  by 
human  intervention. 


V. 


OVR     RESPONSIBILITY    AS    TO    THE     ORDINANCES     OF 
THE    GOSPEL. 

Our  responsibility  as  to  the  ordinances  of  the 
gospel  is  certainly  not  as  well  understood  as  it 
should  be,  and  certain  religious  teachers  seem 
not  disposed  to  havp  it  very  w^ell  understood. 
There  arc  many  who  are  so  accustomed  to 
talk  looscl}^  in  regard  to  baptism,  to  make  of 
it'  anything  or  nothing,  as  their  own  caprice 
may  dictate,  to  regard  it  as  a  mere  punctilio 
that  may  be  modified  to  any  extent  that  will 
suit  individual  taste  or  convenience,  that  they 
cannot  ap'preciate  the  position  of  one  who  holds 


78  THE   REBELLIOUS   SACRIFICE, 

himself  morally  bound  to  keep  the  ordinances 
as  they  were  delivered  to  us  by  inspired  au- 
thority and  apostolic  teaching  and  practice. 
Surely,  the  first  requisite  of  a  sound  Christian- 
ity is  a  submissive,  obedient  spirit.  There  is  a 
manifest  fallacy  in  the  view,  and  a  fearful  re- 
sponsibility incurred  in  the  spirit,  that  would 
presume  to  sit  in  judgment  on  matters  of 
divine  authority,  and  set  aside,  or  modify 
divine  decisions. 

They  who  accept  this  loose  view  of  the  case 
are  at  great  pains  to  interpret  our  Saviour's 
command  so  indefinitely  that  it  shall  specify 
nothing  in  particular ;  and  so  we  are  taught 
that  our  Saviour  has  been  so  unskilful  in  the 
use  of  lans^uao^e,  that  the  law  which  he  has 
enacted  for  his  church  enacts  nothinfi:  definite ; 
that  his  most  positive  c.ommand  commands 
nothing  positive ;  and  his  chosen  symbol  of 
descipleship  is  left  without  specified  form.  To 
attribute  such  indefiniteness  to  a  human  law- 
giver would  be  to  impeach  his  wisdom.  Is  it 
any  less  an  impeachment  of  Him  who  spake  as 
never  man  spake  ? 

Again,  if  that  which  we  practise  for  baptism 


liESPOXSIBILITY  AS   TO   ORDINANCES.  79 

is  really  the  ordinance  of  Christ's  appointment, 
then  this  one  fact  puts  all  criticism  in  regard 
to  it  out  of  countenance,  and  all  cavils  as  to 
convenience  or  propriety  are  set  aside,  as 
impertinent  and  out  of  place.  But  if  it  is  not 
of  Christ's  appointment,  but  only  a  human  in- 
vention, it- is  itself  an  impertinence,  and  is  enti- 
tled to  no  more  respect  than  the  inventicfns  of 
heathenism ;  and  he  who  practises  it  as  an  act 
of  Christian  consecration  is  really  performing 
an  impious  desecration,  that,  so  far  from  lead- 
ing himself  or  others  to  Christ,  is  leading  them 
directly  away  from  him;  and  the  very  act 
which  professes  to  declare  allegiance  to  Christ 
is  an  act  of  downright  rebellion  against  him. 

It  must  be  evident  to  every  one  that  bap- 
tism could  not  have  originated  save  in  the  posi- 
tive command  of  Christ.  That  command  alone 
could  define  it,  establish  its  proprieties,  clothe 
it  with  utilities,  and  give  it  meaning.  If  any- 
thing else  is  substituted  for  the  institution  of  his 
appointment,  then  propriety,  utility,  meaning, 
all  are  lost ;  and  we  have  but  a  specious  cheat,  in 
which  a  gross  deception  is  palmed  off  upon  the 
world,  while  a  most  solemn  act  of  divine  ser- 


80  TEE  HEBELLIOUS   SACRIFICE, 

vice  is  transformed  into  a  delusion :  an  acted 
falsehood  before  our  fellow-men,  a  mockery  and 
a  profonatiou  offered  up  to  God. 

And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  guilt  of  that  ad- 
ministrator who  repeats  the  baptismal  formula 
over  a  ceremony  that  is  not  the  ordinance  of 
Christ's  appointment,  —  what,  but  that  every 
time  he  says,  "I  baptize  thee,"  he  utters  an  un- 
truth ;  and  that  when  he  goes  on  to  say,  "  In  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit,"  he  uses  the  name  of  the  sacred  three  to 
emphasize  the  falsehood  ?  Before  ventui-ing  on 
the  act  itself,  or  any  complicitj^  with  it,  or  any 
responsibility  for  it,  in  which  the  authority  of 
God  is  renounced,  the  wisdom  of  the  Saviour 
impeached,  God  mocked,  our  fellow-men  de- 
ceived, and  the  ordinances  of  the  church  and 
the  truth  of  the  gospel  perverted,  —  were  it  not 
well  for  us  to  pause,  and  consider  whither  we 
are  drifting? 

The  principle  once  admitted  that  we  may  set 
aside,  or  supplement,  or  abridge,  the  divine 
testimony,  and  it  will  be  difficult  to  fix  limits 
to  its  application.  It  will  be  found  of  ample 
dimensions  to   admit   the   Romish  corruptions 


PLAINNESS    OF   THE    CASE.  81 

and  usurpations  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  worst 
perversions  of  modern  rationalism  on  the 
other. 


VI. 


PLAINNESS   OF  THE   CASE   TO  AN  EARNEST  IN- 
QUIRER. 

Let  US  now  suppose  that  one  who  is  an  ear- 
nest  inquirer   after    truth,  and    who,    in    full 
sincerity   of  soul,  desires  to  obey  Christ,  has 
this  question  of  baptism  under  consideration. 
The  whole  sul^ject  will   be  found  wonderfully 
sunple  and  plain.     lie  finds,  in  the  first  place, 
that  this  is  a  duty  w^hich  an  individual  is  him- 
self to  do.     Whatever  has  been  done  to  him  by 
others,  without  his  option,  it  is  clear  cannot  be 
Christian  baptism.     He  will  notice,  too,  that  the 
ordinance  is  instituted  by  positive  divine  com- 
mand ;  that  is,  a  command   resting   solely  on 
divine  appointment.       All  questions  of  expe- 
diency may  therefore  be  dismissed,  at  once,  as 
wholly  irrelevant  to  the  case.     The  question  is 
now  reduced  to  a  very  simple  form,  namely, 

"  What  hath  God  said  ?  "    •  lie  can  eliminate  from 
6 


82  THE   REBELLIOUS    SACRIFICE. 

the  iuquiry  all  questions  as  to  what  meu  have 
said. 

He  now  opens  the  New  Testament  at  the  ac- 
count of  his  Saviour's  baptism.  He  would  de- 
sire, by  all  means,  to  have  his  obedience  con- 
form to  that  of  him  who  "  fulfilled  all  ris^hteous- 
ness."  He  reads  of  our  Saviom-'s  "going  down 
into  the  water  "  and  being  baptized,  and  then 
"coming  up  out  of  the  water."  The  same 
mode  of  representation  is  made  in  other  cases. 
Confident  that  he  must  find  the  very  act  some- 
where specified,  he  pursues  his  inquiries,  stead- 
fastly keeping  by  the  "Word  of  God.  Coming 
to  the  sixth  of  Eomans,  he  reads  of  being  "bur- 
ied "  with  Christ  by  baptism,  and  rising  again. 
In  Colossians  he  finds  this  language  repeated. 
In  one  of  the  epistles  to  the  Corinthians  he  finds 
the  same  form  of  the  ordinance  again  alluded 
to.  Thus  he  finds  the  form  distinctly  specified 
in  the  New  Testament.  No  other  is  mentioned, 
or  even  sucffirested. 

He  can  no  longer  hesitate  as  to  what  consti- 
tutes the  act  of  baptism.  It  is  being  buried  in 
water  and  rising  from  the  water.  He  finds, 
too,  that  a  meaning  is  2:iven  to  the  ordinance, 


PLAINNESS    OF    THE    CASE.  83 

that  requires  this  particular  form  for  its  expres- 
sion. Nay,  the  apostle  affirms  this  particular 
form  to  havebeeu  chosen  purposely  that  this 
meaning  might  be  expressed. 

He  has  before  him,  then,  no  question  of  dif- 
ferent modes,  among  which  he  is  to  choose,  as 
suits  his  caprice  or  convenience.  He  has  no 
election  in  the  case.  It  must  be  this  particular 
thing  prescribed  and  defined  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, or  it  is  not  Christian  baptism.  He 
knows,  too,  that  none  of  the  forms  which  men 
devise  can,  by  any  possibility,  express  the 
meaning  which  baptism  was  designed  to 
express.  For  sprinkling  and  pouring,  and 
that  nondescript  performance  now  very  much 
in  vogue  of  merely  laying  the  moistened  fingers 
upon  the  brow,  cannot  surely  represent  a  bur- 
ial ;  nor  can  they  be  accepted  as  passable  sub- 
stitutes for  it.  They  have  not  the  merit  of  be- 
ing respectable  counterfeits.  He  can  no  longer 
hesitate.  He  goes  down  into  the  water,  and  is 
^  buried  by  baptism  into  death ;  that  like  as 
Christ  was  raised  from  the  dead  by  the  glory 
of  the  Father,  even  so "  he  "  should  walk  in 


84  THE   REBELLIOUS   SACRIFICE. 

newness   of  life."     He   comes   up  out   of  the 
water  and  goes  on  his  way  rejoicing. 

His  course  may  seem  exclusive  to  others.  It 
may,  in  fact,  be  strait  and  narrow ;  but  it 
has  that  about  it  which  can  be  experienced 
in  no  other  way;  he  can  pursue  it  with  the 
sweet  consciousness  of  the  divine  approval. 
He  knows  that  he  is  obeying  God ;  and  this  to 
him  is  of  value  far  above  rubies.  He  can  say 
to  those  who  press  him  with  their  substitutes, 
"Behold,  to  obeT/is  better  than  sacrifice."  "In 
vain  do  you  teach  for  doctrines  the  command- 
ments of  men." 

"  Should  all  the  forms  that  men  devise 
Assault  my  faith  with  treacherous  art, 

•  I'd  call  them  vanity  and  lies, 

And  bind  the  gospel  to  my  heart." 

■VTL. 

ONE  CLASS  OF  DUTIES  SUBSTITUTED   FOR  ANOTHER. 

There  is  yet  another  class  of  errors,  in  which 
duties  are  made  to  change  places,  and  one  set 
of  duties  are  substituted  for  another.  If  the 
error  Ave  have  been  considering  has  sadly  per- 


CERTAiy  DUTIES   INSTEAD    OF   OTHERS.  85 

vcrtcJ  mul  corrupted  the  external  form,  no  less 
do  these  poison  the  fountain  of  piety  in  the 
soul,  and  cat  into  the  life  of  godliness.  They 
all  proceed  on  the  assumption  that  it  is  possible 
for  us  to  exceed  our  real  obliirations  in  a  ofiven 
line  of  action ;  and  so  we  are  at  liberty  to  place 
the  surplus  to  the  credit  of  former  deficiencies, — 
a  principle  which  is  manifestly  false,  inasmuch 
as  we  are  taught,  when  we  have  done  our  best, 
to  say,  ''  We  are  unprofitable  servants  ;  we  have 
done  only  what  it  was  our  duty  to  do." 

Now  take  the  case  of  the  man  who  disregards 
his  moral  obligations,  or  at  least  is  conscious 
of  deficiencies  therein  ;  who  perchance  is  want- 
mg  in  veracity,  dishonest  in  his  dealings,  im- 
pure in  conversation,  or  an  evil-speaker,  or 
profane.  Is  this  man  to  think  of  purchasing 
impunity  by  prayers  and  watchful  vigils?  Will 
any  extra  diligence  in  the  exercises  of  devotion 
make  up  for  his  moral  delinquencies?  Surely 
not.  He  is  in  the  ainW  of  bitterness  and  the 
bonds  of  iniquity ;  and  nothing  can  restore  him 
to  a  true  position  but  a  sincere  repentance,  and 
return  to  the  walks  of  uprightness.  Until  this 
is  done  his  devotions  themselves  are  laden  with 


86  THE  BEBELLIOUS   SACRIFICE. 

the  burden  of  his  guilt,  and  are  but  the  offer- 
ing up  of  sin. 

Reverse  this  case,  and  you  have  the  position 
of  the  moralist.  He  will  be  justified  by  his 
good  deeds,  while  he  takes  little  account  of 
anything  purely  religious.  He  claims  the  di- 
vine approbation  on  the  simple  ground  of  his 
own  meritoriousness.  It  is  certainly  not  a 
promising  beginning  that  he  is  turning  away 
from  all  real  obedience  to  God,  and  so  pouring- 
contempt  on  his  authority,  and  that  he  will 
even  make  his  morality  itself  the  basis  of  this 
high-handed  rebellion.  He  will  practise  the 
moralities  towards  his  fellow-men,  but  put 
aside  as  unworthy  of  his  regard  the  positive 
commands  of  Jehovah,  and  the  deeper  and 
more  spiritual  obligations  which  he  owes  to 
God.  Surely  his  Creator  has  the  first  claims 
upon  him ;  and  the  morality  that  is  made  to 
sanction  and  support  his  disregard  of  these 
claims  can  hardly  be  regarded,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  Heaven,  as  other  than  a  worthless  coun- 
terfeit. In  the  dazzling  light  of  God's  counte- 
nance, his  boasted  goodness  vanishes  like  the 
morning  cloud  and  the  early  dew.     After  all 


CERTAIX  DUTIES   IXSTEAD    OF   OTHEnS.  87 

their  boastfulncss,  it  is  not  usually  observed 
that  moralists  arc  really  better  than  humble 
Christian  people  who  feel  that  their  only  hope 
of  justification  and  salvation  must  be  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  and  who  repeat  with  the 
utmost  sincerity  the  publican's  prayer,  "  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  It  is  impossible  to 
commend  good  morals  too  highly ;  but  the" 
morality  loses  all  title  to  our  praise  Avhen  it 
is  insultingly  oftcrcd  up  to  God  as  a  sacrifice 
which  is  to  atone  for  manifest  disobedience. 
The  moralist  is  but  practising  over  again  the 
gross  iniquity  of  Saul,  in  offering  to  God  a  re- 
bellious sacrifice. 

Again,  nothing  can  be  justly  considered  as  of 
more  importance,  in  the  whole  range  of  relig- 
ious activities,  than  the  spirit  and  temper 
which  we  habitually  exercise  ;  inasmuch  as  it  is 
on  the  renewal  of  the  spiritual  nature  that  our 
meetness  for  the  heavenly  inheritance  is  made 
to  depend.  An  error  here  is  a  fatal  error.  It 
may  carry  with  it  indubitable  evidence  that  we 
are  deceiving  ourselves  as  to  our  real  position 
in  the  sii^ht  of  God.  Mi£>'ht  not  our  Saviour's 
rebuke   to  his  disciples,  "Ye  know  not  what 


88  THE  REBELLIOUS   SACRIFICE. 

manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of,"  often  apply  with 
wonderful  point  and  power  ? 

Our  duty  is  not  less  clear  in  this  respect 
than  it  is  in  regard  to  the  more  external  forms 
and  modes  which  Christianity  prescribes. 
Our  spiritual  kinship  with  Christ  binds  us  to 
the  cultivation  of  a  spirit  kindred  with  his  own. 
Christ  is  our  spiritual  exemplar  no  less  than 
our  external  pattern.  Hence  the  industry  and 
perseverance  enjoined  in  cultivating  the  meek- 
ness and  gentleness  that  characterized  him. 
"Let  this  mind  be  in  jom  which  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus."  There  is  no  place  for  a  proud, 
indomitable,  selfish,  and  censorious  spirit,  or  an 
impatient,  fretful,  and  irascible  temper.  These 
belong  to  the  works  of  the  flesh,  which  are  to 
be  crucified,  with  the  affections  and  lusts. 
Ah,  it  is  no  small  matter  for  us  to  gain  the 
victory  here  !  It  requires  constant  watchful- 
ness and  very  persistent  fighting  to  subdue 
these  internal  foes  and  betrayers.  Many  a  one 
who  has  stood  forth  in  confident  and  zealous 
championship  of  Christ  and  the  Christian  cause 
has,  in  these  internal  conflicts,  found  himself 
defeated  and  discrowned,  and  the  banner  of  his 


CERTAIIT  DUTIES   INSTEAD    OF   OTHEIiS.  89 

faith  has  trailed  in  the  mire  of  polhition. 
"  Stronger  is  he  that  ruleth  his  own  spirit 
than  he  that  takcth  a  city." 

Now  it  may  be  that  the  thought  that  other 
performances  are  to  make  up  for  deficiencies 
here  may  not  be  put  into  words,  or  even  shape 
itself  into  definite  forms  of  thought,  and  yet 
it  may  be  all  the  time  tacitly  admitted,  and 
acted  upon.  We  need  very  earnestly  to  culti- 
vate the  spirit  and  temper  of  the  Master.  Even 
Christian  dignity,  .assurance,  and  indignation 
against  outward  evil  need  to  be  tempered  with 
the  meekness  and  gentleness  that  were  in 
Christ;  with  long-sufiering,  forbearance,  faith, 
patience. 

And,  by  all  thy  nature's  weakness, 
Hidden  faults,  and  follies  known, 

Be  thou,  in  rebuking  evil. 
Conscious  of  thy  own. 

Not  the  less  shall  stern-eyed  Duty 

To  thy  lips  her  trumpet  set ; 
But  with  harsher  blasts  shall  mingle 

Wailings  of  regret. 

So,  when  thoughts  of  evil-doers 
Waken  scorn,  or  hatred  move, 

Shall  a  mournful  fellow-feeling 
Temper  all  with  love. 


90  THE   REBELLIOUS   SACRIFICE, 

We  might  proceed  to  notice  other  forms  of 
this  error;  such  as  substituting  secret  prayer 
for  the  more  social  or  public  duties  of  religion, 
or  these  duties  in  the  stead  of  private  devotion  ; 
a  neglect  of  all  the  more  spiritual  activities  of 
the  religious  life,  and  making  up  by  special 
attention  to  business  matters  ;  or  a  total  neglect 
of  the  outward  business  of  the  house  of  God, 
to  be  made  up  by  extra  diligence  in  spiritual 
operations ;  a  neglect  to  engage  in  earnest 
efforts  for  the  salvation  of  others,  to  be  made 
up  by  an  exhibition  of  the  more  quiet  traits  of 
piety ;  or  a  neglect  of  piety  at  home,  ^lade  up 
by  labors  for  the  salvation  of  others ;  and  the 
bountiful  giving  for  the  cause  of  Christ  that  is 
to  atone  for  all  other  deficiencies ;  or  the  nig- 
gardly meanness  that  either  gives  nothing'  at 
all,  or  gives  as  though  the  Holy  City  were  an 
extremely  unprofitable  speculation,  but  hoping 
to  balance  the  account  by  an  unnatural  ostenta- 
tion of  devoutness. 


TRUE   OBEDIENCE   THE   ONLY  SAFETY.  91 


THE    WAY  OF  OBEDIENCE    THE    ONLY   WAY  OF 
SAFETY. 

But  enough.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  com- 
mandments of  God  are  exceedingly  broad  ;  that 
they  lay  their  requisitions  upon  the  whole  life, 
and  upon  every  part  of  it,  and  claim  full  con- 
trol of  all  our  modes  of  actins:  and  livino:.  It 
will  be  seen,  too,  that  the  way  of  obedience  is 
a  strait  and  narrow  way.  Let  me  assure 
you,  reader,  it  is  the  only  way  of  safety.  You 
remember  how  Bunyan's  pilgrim,  footsore  and 
weary,  sat  down  to  rest  by  the  side  of  the  way ; 
and  while  there,  that  he  discovered  a  path  all 
carpeted  with  luxuriant  green,  and  overhung 
by  a  grateful  shade,  that  seemed  to  run  parallel 
with  the  one  he  was  travelling.  You  remember 
how  he  pursued  that  path,  till  the  shades  of 
twilight  enveloped  the  way,  and  the  twilight 
deepened  into  midnight  gloom ;  and  then  the 
thunders  roared  awfully  overhead,  and  the 
lightnings  glanced  fearfully,  and  sounds  of 
evil  omeu  assailed  his  ear,  and  shapes  of  dread 


92  THE  REBELLIOUS   SACRIFICE. 

and  fearful  pitfalls  were  in  the  way.  You  re- 
member his  long  captivity  in  Doubting  Castle, 
and  his  oft-repeated  chastisements  by  the  hand 
of  Giant  Despair.  Alas  that  so  sombre  a 
picture  should  so  often  be  so  fully  idealized ! 
Many  a  disciple  has  thus  left,  little  by  little, 
and  almost  imperceptibly  at  the  first,  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  gospel,  until  his  way  has  become 
so  darkened  by  sin,  and  he  has  become  so  lost 
to  truth  and  goodness,  that  blow  after  blow 
of  heavy  chastisement  was  needed,  before  he 
could  be  brought  back  to  the  obedience  of 
faith. 

Oh,  how  much  better  to  follow  in  the  Lord's 
appointed  way,  though  that  way  be  narrow, 
and  difficult,  and  even  thorny  !  It  may,  indeed, 
lead  right  over  the  very  summit  of  the  Hill 
Difficulty,  or  down  into  the  depths  of  the 
Valley  of  Humiliation,  or  even  through  the 
dark  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death.  You 
may  be  jeered  at  and  ridiculed  by  the  whole 
town  of  Vanity  Fair.  Demas,  who  loveth  this 
present  world,  may  seek  to  lead  you  aside  to 
some  silver  mine ;  or  By-Ends.  by  all  deceitful 


TRUE    OBEDIENCE    THE    ONLY  SAFETY.  93 

• 

blandishments  of  self-rigbteonsness,  and  allure- 
ments of  false  doctrine,  may  tempt  you  astray. 
But  in  addition  to  such  trials  of  your  faith, 
you  Tvill  find  springs  of  living  water  even  in 
the  desert,  and  many  a  "cool  retreat"  that 
shall  be  to  you  as  "  the  shadow  of  a  great  i-ock 
in  a  weary  land."  You  may,  too,  in  some 
favored  bom*,  be  led  by  friendly  hands  up  the 
Delectable  Momitains,  from  whose  summits, 
your  vision  cleared  from  the  mists  of  Avorldli- 
ness,  you  may  catch  ravishing  glimpses  of  the 
land  that  is  "  very  far  ofi"."  Or  you  may  be  per- 
mitted to  walk  in  the  beautiful  land  of  Beulah, 
that  borders  the  river  of  Death,  where  the 
"  shining  ones  "  come  trooping  down  from  the 
pearly  gates  to  give  you  joyful  greeting,  and 
choral  harmonies,  uprising  from  the  celestial 
battlements,  come  floating  down  over  the 
dark  river  to  your  delighted  ear  and  are  borne 
inward  to  your  soul  from  the  harps  of  the 
City  of  God. 

Then,  Christian  pilgrim,  then  will  it  be  seen 
that  the  way  of  obedience  is  the  only  right  way, 
the  only  way  that  is  safe ;    that   the  slightest 


94  THE  REBELLIOUS  SACRIFICE. 

disobedience  has  clanger,  and  even  death,  in 
it;  that,  therefore,  to  obey,  fully,  cheerfully, 
unhesitatingly  to  obey,  is  better,  far  better, 
than  sacrifice. 


IV. 

A  PROVERB  IJV  ISRAEL. 


^ 


CHAPTEH  IV. 

A  PRO  VERB  IN  ISRAEL. 
I. 

THE  PROVERBIAL   QUESTION. 

HE  words  in  which  the  people  had  ex- 
>^  pressed  their  astoni«,hmeut  when  Saul 
first  prophesied  among  the  prophets, 
are  again  recorded  in  the  twenty-fourth 
verse  of  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  1  Sam- 
uel. In  this  instance  they  are  introduced  with 
the  words  "  they  say ; "  indicating  thus  that 
the  saying  had  now  passed  into  a  proverb. 
"Wherefore  they  say,  Is  Saul  also  among  the 
prophets  ? "  The  words  are  the  same ;  but 
their  suggestive  import,  and  the  train  of  reflec- 
tions to  which  they  give  rise,  are  very  different. 
At  the  first,  the'  question  was  asked  in  con- 
nection with  a  wonderful  event  in  the  life  of 
Saul.  He  had  just  been  anointed,  though  not 
yet  inaugurated   king ;    when,    coming  to   the 

7  97 


98  A   PROVERB   ly  ISRAEL. 

place  where  the  company  of  the  prophets  dwelt, 
the  Spmt  of  God  came  upon  him,  and  he 
prophesied  among  the  prophets.  It  was  nat- 
ural for  the  people,  knowing  as  they  did  the 
previous  obscurity  of  Saul  and  of  his  family,  to 
give  utterance  to  their  astonishment  by  asking 
"Is  Saul  also  among  the  prophets?  "  It  was  the 
strangeness  of  the  incident  that  gave  rise  to  the 
question.  Its  import  must  have  been  wholly 
incidental.  There  could  not,  from  that  first 
event,  have  ariseiT  that  proverbial  significance 
with  which  it  was  afterwards  invested. 

The  next  nine  chapters  following  the  record 
we  have  here  considered,  contain  what  is  left  to 
us  of  fourteen  years  of  eventful  history,  in 
which  the  moral  and  political  status  of  the  king 
had  become  entirely  changed,  and  the  kingdom 
was  being  molten  in  the  furnace  of  revolution. 
Saul  seems  to  have  made  rapid  progress  in  un- 
godliness, till  his  rebellion  against  the  divine 
authority  cost  him  his  kingdom.  David  had 
received  the  divine  anointing,  as  his  suc- 
cessor;  and,  at  the  same  time,  that  divine 
spirit  which  had  been  with  Saul  from  the  first 
departed  from  him  and  rested  upon  David.  In 
place  of  it,  an  "  evil  spirit "  —  a  spirit  evidently 


THE  PROVERBIAL   QUESTION.  9» 

of  gloominess  a,id   dejection,  of  remorse  and 
fear  — toolv  possession  of  him,  and  wrought  m 
him  that  frame  of  mind  best  fitted  for  the  exer- 
cise of  all  evil  passions.     The  jealousy  with 
which  he  had  already  begun  to  regard  the  ris- 
in-  fortunes  of  the  son  of  Jesse  was  fanned 
into  an  unquenchable   flame   of  vengeful   and 
relentless  hate  by  the  voice  of  the  daughters  of 
Israel,  as  they  met  them  returning  from  the 
wars,  and  sang,  "  Saul  hath  slain  his  thousands, 
but  David  his  ten  thousands." 

An  insatiable  desire  to  compass  the  destruc- 
tion of  God's  anointed  now  became  a  ruling 
passion  with  him.     The  nineteenth  chapter  re- 
lates how,  on  one  occasion,  he  sought  with  his 
own  hand  to  take  his  life  :  "  And  Saul  sought  to 
smite  him,  even  to  the  wall,  with  the  javehn; 
but  he  slipped  away  out  of  Saul's  presence,  and 
he  smote  the  javelin  into  the  wall.     And  David 
fled,  and  escaped  that  night."     Finding  him- 
self still  pursued,  he   made   his   way   to   the 
home  of  the  old  prophet  in  Naioth  of  Kamah. 


100  A   PROVERB"  IN  ISRAEL, 

n. 

HOW  IT  BECAME  PROVERBIAL. 

And  here  it  was  that  the  strange  events  oc- 
curred with  which  the  passage  quoted  is  con- 
nected, and  which  give  it  its  special  significance  : 
"  Saul  sent  messengers  to  take  David,  and  when 
they  saw  the  company  of  the  prophets  prophe- 
sying, and  Samuel  standing  as  appointed  over 
them,  the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon  the  messen- 
gers of  Saul,  and  they  prophesied.  And  when 
it  was  told  Saul,  he  sent  other  messengers,  and 
they  prophesied  likewise ;  and  Saul  sent  mes- 
sen'gers  the  third  time,  and  they  prophesied 
also."  Foiled  in  these  repeated  attempts,  he 
resolved  to  take  the  work  into  his  own  hands. 
He  would  no  longer  trust  to  messengers.  He 
would  go  himself  and  destroy  the  royal  fugi- 
tive. Full  of  his  guilty  purpose,  and  enraged 
even  to  desperation  at  his  former  ill-success,  he 
starts  upon  his  wicked  errand ;  when,  lo  !  as  he 
approached  the  home  of  the  prophets,  "the 
Spmt  of  God  was  upon  him  also,  and  he  went 
on  and  prophesied,  until  he  came  to  Naioth  of 


now  IT  BECAME   PROVERBIAL.  101 

Ramah."  And  there,  instead  of  accompHshino- 
his  evil  design,  so  completely  was  he  overmas- 
tered and  controlled  by  the  spirit  that  was 
upon  him,  that  he  seems  entirely  to  have  for- 
gotten it,  for  the  time ;  and  stripping  ofi*  his 
armor  and  his  royal  robes,  and  thus  rendering 
himself  completely  defenceless,  he  remained  a 
day  and  a  night  among  the  prophets.  His  very 
rage  had  brought  him  into  a  position  where  he 
was  impelled  to  deeds  and  utterances  the  most 
distasteful  to  him.  He  started  to  thwart  the 
ends  of  prophecy,  and  he  finds  himself  com- 
pelled to  reaffirm  it. 

But  that  a  great  criminal,  full  of  demoniac 
fury,  bent  on  the  perpetration  of  the  most  hor- 
rible of  crimes,  should,  by  the  very  infatuation 
and  rage  with  which  he  was  pursuing  his  infix- 
mous  purpose,  be  suddenly  brought  to  endorse 
the  very  cause  he  opposed,  to- sanction  the 
course,  and,  by  his  own  acts,  secure  the  present 
safety  of  his  intended  victim,  —  this  is  strano-e, 
passing  strange.  And  it  was  this  which  gave 
its  proverbial  significance  to  the  question  which 
the  people  were   asking   each  other  anew,  in 


102  A    PROVERB   IN  ISRAEL. 

mutual   astonishment.     "  Wherefore   they  say, 
Is  Saul  also  among  the  prophets  ?  " 

m. 

HISTORICAL  PARALLELS, 

But,  strange  as  these  events  appear,  except- 
ing in  the  circumstances  of  miraculous  inter- 
vention, a  little  reflection  concerning  human 
afiairs  will  discover  many  an  interesting  and 
instructive  parallel.  Individual  instances  are 
scattered  all  along  the  pages  of  history,  from 
the  earliest  to  the  most  recent  times,  in  which 
the  assailants  of  Christianity  have  become 
unintentionally  most  veracious  witnesses  to  its 
truth. 

One  of  the  earliest  opposers  of  Christianity, 
who  engaged  in  a  direct  attack  upon  it,  was 
Celsus.  He  employed  all  the  oflensive  meth- 
ods of  argument,  ridicule,  and  denunciation,  and, 
no  doubt,  felt  sure,  when  he  had  completed  his 
famous  work  entitled  "A  True  Discourse," 
that  he  had  utterly  demolished  the  religion  he 
had  assailed.  But,  strange  to  say,  in  the  very 
work  written  expressly  for  the  refutation  and 


niSTORlCAL   PARALLELS.  103 

entire  overthrow  of  the  gospel  is  found  the  most 
striking  confirmtition  of  it.  While  his  argument 
is  utterly  suicidal,  the  fact  that  he  constantly 
refers  to  the  facts  recorded  in  the  four  gospels 
as  well-known  facts,  makes  his  work  strongly 
corroborative  of  the  gospel  history,  and  there- 
fore invaluable  to  the  Christian  apologist. 

While  the  writings  of  Celsus  were  received 
with  gladness  by  the  enemies  of  the  Christian 
cause,  Christianity  moved  on  steadil}^  to  the 
achievements  of  its  early  triumphs  ;  strong  in  its 
self-evidencing  power,  in  its  consistent  appeal 
to  established  facts,  in  the  excellence  of  its 
teaching,  in  the  heavenly  purity  of  its  princi- 
ples, and  the  blessed  fruits  which  it  everywhere 
bore.  And  Celsus,  and  Porphyry,  and  Julian, 
and  other  early  sceptical  writers  hold  the  place 
which  their  uauies  now  occupy  in  history, 
mainly  by  reason  of  the  use  that  is  made  of 
them  by  Christian  writers  in  confirmation  of 
the  truth  they  once  assailed. 

As  it  happened  to  these  earlier  opposers,  so 
has  it  fared  with  the  sceptical  writers  of  subse- 
quent times.  Either  by  their  own  self-contra- 
dictions, or  their  refutations  of  each  other,  they 


104  A    PROVEJiB   m  ISRAEL. 

have  scarcely  more  than  reaffirmed  the  truth 
they  so  stoutly  denied.  No  system  on  earth 
was  ever  assailed  with  such  variety  and  malig- 
nity of  oppositions  as  Christianity.  No  book 
in  existence  was  ever  subjected  to  so  rude  and 
merciless  a  criticism  as  the  Bible ;  yet  the  only 
result  has  been  to  display  in  bolder  relief  the 
royal  honors,  and  manifest  supremacy,  and 
resplendent  excellence  of  the  Christian  system ; 
while  archgeology  and  history,  the  explora- 
tions of  the  antiquarian  and  the  modern  trav- 
eller, the  study  of  ancient  manuscripts  and 
of  ancient  monuments,  —  all  are  constantly 
bringing  fresh  contributions  to  the  already 
ample  stock  of  Christian  evidence,  and  re-af- 
firming with  added  emphasis  the  leading  facts 
of  Bible  history. 


rv. 


CONTRADICTIONS     AND     MUTUAL      REFUTATIONS     OF 
ERROR  IS  TS. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  sceptical 
theories  have  been  perpetually  displacing  each 
other.      The    cynical    little    Frenchman    who 


CONTRADICTIONS    OF  EltRORISTS.  105 

toadied  and  pilfered  at  the  court  of  Frederick 
the  Great,  and  who  thought  he  had  actually 
annihilated  the  Christian  religion  by  his  sneers 
and  grimaces,  and  the  miserable  sot  who  wrote 
the  "Age  of  Eeason,"  have  long  ago  been  set 
aside,  as  a  long  way  behind  the  times.  Vol- 
taire and  Paine  are  not  even  respectable  enough 
to  keep  company  with  the  gloved  and  slippered 
gentry  of  the  modern  sceptical  school.  But 
the  mutual  refutations  and  inherent  contradic- 
tions of  this  opposition  w^ere  never  more 
apparent  than  in  the  infidel  literature  of  the 
present  day. 

The  case  is  stated  with  admirable  force  and 
accuracy  in  the  following  paragraph,  quoted 
from  the  "Bibliotheca  Sacra  :"  "  Scepticism,  like 
some  rebel  army,  has  often  had  its  transient 
jubilee,  and  made  its  short-lived  panic.  But 
step  by  step  it  has  abandoned  stronghold  after 
stronghold,  and  seems  now  to  be  looking  more 
and  more  diligently  for  the  last  ditch.  It 
stands  confessing  our  main  facts,  or  denying 
them  by  principles  that  are  suicidal.  The  men 
that  push  these  marauding  expeditions  stand 
out  but  as  a  fraction  and  a  faction  in  the  world 


106  A   PROVERB   IK  ISRAEL. 

of  criticism,  whose  own  sympathizers  recipro- 
cally often  wash  their  hands  of  the  folly.  Strauss 
hacks  away  at  Paulus,  and  some  better  men; 
Baur  makes  Stranss  wince  ;  Renan  strides  over 
both ;  Schenkel  hints  at  their  disparagement 
of  evidence,  and  Schenkel's  admiring  translator 
spends  his  chief  strength  in  disputing  his  in- 
ferences and  denying  his  statements."  Tlie 
scene  enacted  in  the  palace  of  the  high  priest 
when  Christ  was  put  on  trial  is  a  type  of  the 
trial  to  which  Christianity  has  been  subjected 
through  its  whole  history.  "For  many  bare 
false  witness  against  him,  but  their  witness 
agreed  not  together ;  and  there  arose  certain 
and  bare  false  witness  against  him,"  uniting 
their  testimony  on  one  distinct  specification. 
"But  neither  so  did  their  witness  agree  to- 
gether." 

It  is  surely  a  significant  fact,  that  the  scep- 
tics of  the  present  day  busy  themselves  chiefly 
in  writing  lives  of  Jesus,  thus  admitting  the 
main  facts  of  Christianity,  while  attempting  to 
resolve  its  particulars  into  shadowy  myth.  As 
with  Saul  when  in  wrathfulness  he  went  forth 
to  destroy  the  youthful  Idng  of  Israel,  so  has  it 


OVTWAUD  opposition:  107 

ever  been  wlicu  a  spirit  like  that  of  Saul  has 
attempted  the  destruction  of  David's  greater 
Sou.  "Wherefore,  they  say,  Is  Saul  also  among 
the  prophets  ?  " 


V. 


OUTWARD    OPPOSITION.  —  JULIAN  AND    OTHER 
OPPOSERS. 

And  "v^'hen  from  argument  opposition  has 
proceeded  to  overt  acts,  it  has  met  with  no 
more  prosperous  results.  The  Emperor  Julian, 
in  the  fourth  century,  determined  on  the  defeat 
of  the  Christian  cause  and  the  extinction  of  the 
Christian  name.  He  persecuted  the  Christians, 
denied  them  the  privilege  of  professing  their 
faith,  robbed  their  churches  and  closed  them 
against  the  Christian  worship,  and  sought  to 
reinstate  the  Pagan  worship  in  all  its  ancient 
splendor.  And  finally,  in  order  to  refute  the 
prophecy  of  Christ  in  regard  to  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem,  he  attempted  to  have  it  rc])uilt. 
Against  this  attempt  the  powers  of  nature 
seemed  leagued  in  jealous  opposition;  for 
subterranean  fires  are  said  to  have  burst  forth 


108  A   PROVERB  IN  ISRAEL. 

repeatedly  and  scattered  and  terrified  the  work- 
men, so  that  the  work  coukl  not  proceed ;  and 
the  enterprise  had  finally  to  be  abandoned. 
Foiled  in  all  his  efiforts,  he  fell  at  length  mortally 
wounded  while  conducting  a  war  against  the 
Persians.  Finding  his  life  fast  ebbing  away, 
the  once  haughty  emperor,  now  humbled  at  the 
near  approach  of  death,  lifted  his  dying  gaze 
to  the  bending  heavens  above  him,  and  ex- 
claimed, "O  Galilean!  thou  hast  conquered." 
Yes !  Julian,  yes !  The  Galilean  evermore 
conquers,  and  with  a  sovereignty  greater  than 
all  that  is  crowned  with  royal  diadems  rides 
forth  conquering  and  to  conquer.  And  the 
maddened  spirit  of  Saul  in  the  very  acme  of 
deadliest  hostility  shall  evermore  be  compelled 
to  prophesy  among  the  prophets.  "He  hath 
upon  His  vesture  and  upon  His  thigh  a  name 
written.  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords." 

Of  modern  illustrations  none  will  more  readily 
occur,  or  be  more  frequentl}^  cited,  than  that 
of  the  class  of  politicians  who  bore  sway  in  this 
country  at  the  outbreak  of  our  recent  war.  It 
is  not  difficult  to  trace  in  their  history  a  strik- 
ing parallel  with  that  of  the  first  king  of  Israel. 


A   MORAL   PROVIDENCE.  109 

After  enjoying  a  supremacy  that  afforded  the 
noblest  opportunities,  like  him  they  were  com- 
pelled to  see  that  power  passing  into  other 
hands.  Like  him,  they  had  forfeited  that 
power  by  their  ungodliness  and  want  of  moral 
principle.  Like  him,  they  became  irritated, 
more  and  more,  because  of  the  futility  of  the 
efforts  which  they  put  forth  for  its  recoveiy. 
Like  his,  too,  their  methods  became  those  of 
madness ;  and  in  that  madness  they  were 
led  to  the  utterance  and  vindication  of  truths 
they  had  all  their  lives  combated  both  in  word 
and  deed.  "  Wherefore  they  say,  Is  Saul  also 
among  the  prophets  ?  " 

A   MORAL   PROVIDENCE. 

Now  it  is  manifest  that  these  things  come  to 
pass  not  by  chance,  but  by  the  operation  of  a 
general  law,  a  moral  providence  in  this  world 
that  has  appointed  bounds  and  measures  to  the 
existing  evil,  which  it  cannot  pass.  So  that 
falsehood,  grown  furious  in  its  assaults  upon 
truth,  becomes   self-contradictory;   and  wrong, 


110  A    PROVERB   IN.  ISRAEL. 

pushed  recklessly  to  an  extreme,  becomes  self- 
destructive  ;  and  they  who  madly  rush  against 
Jehovah's  buckler  do  but  destroy  themselves. 

When  evil  is  put  upon  its  own  defence, 
when  it  is  compelled  to  the  work  of  self-as- 
sertion, it  thereby  discloses  its  native  enormity, 
reveals  its  inherent  weakness,  and  thence  re- 
sults its  overthrow.  The  waves  begin  to  foam 
and  rage  as  they  approach  the  shore.  But  just 
there,  too,  are  they  met  by  a  strong  undertow, 
by  which  their  power  is  overthrown  and  utterly 
annihilated.  So  it  is  in  their  direct  assaults" 
upon  the  solid  ground  of  truth  and  right  that 
falsehood  and  wrong  grow  wrathful  and  clam- 
orous ;  and  just  there  it  is  that  they  are  rolled 
back  upon  themselves  in  hopeless  impotence, 
and  the  good  cause  acquires  added  strength 
and  security  by  the  trial  through  which  it  has 
passed.  When  evil  men  become  enraged,  and 
employ  the  weapons  of  malice  and  license,  they 
prepare  for  themselves  a  speedy  discomfiture. 
When  Satan  comes  down  in  great  wrath,  it  is 
because  he  "  knoweth  that  he  hath  but  a  short 
time." 

The  Psalmist  recognizes  the  moral  providence 


A   MORAL   PROVIDENCE.  Ill 

which  we  arc  ilhistratiiig,  and  thus  anticipates 
its   operation   in    the    case    of    his  assailants : 
"Hide    me  from   the    secret    counsel    of    the 
wicked,  from  the  insurrection  of  the  workers 
of  iniquity,  who  whet  their  tongue  like  a  sword 
and  bend  their  bows  to  shoot  their  arrows,  even 
bitter  words,  that  they  may  shoot  in  secret  at 
the  perfect;   suddenly  do  they  shoot   at  him 
and  fear  not.     They  encourage  themselves  in 
an  evil  matter.     But  God  shall  shoot  at  them 
with  an  arrow,  suddenly  shall  they  be  wounded. 
So  shall  they  make  their  own  tongue  to  fall 
upon     themselves."     "Behold!    he    travaileth 
with  iniquity  and  hath  conceived  mischief  and 
brought  forth  falsehood.     He  made  a  pit  and 
digged  it,  and  is  fallen  into  the  ditch  which  he 
made.     His  mischief  shall  return  upon  his  own 
head,    his   violent   dealings   shall   come   down 
upon  his  own  pate." 

This  law  has  played  an  important  part  in  his- 
tory, and  has  received  a  fresh  illustration  in 
every  important  crisis  of  human  affiiirs.  Did 
not  the  hardness  of  heart,  and  the  wrath  of 
Pharaoh  and  his  host,  drive  them  headlono-  to 
destruction?      And    did    not    the    means    ho 


112  A   PROVERB   IN  ISRAEL. 

employed  for  the  purposes  of  oppression  secure 
deliverance  to  an  oppressed  but  too  timorous 
people  ?  And  when  they  went  forth  to  prevent 
the  exodus  of  Israel,  did  they  not,  instead, 
actually  drive  them  out,  and  compel  their 
emancipation?  And  have  we  not  seen  the 
same  thiug  done,  on  a  grander  scale,  in  our 
own  times?  Saul,  brought  by  his  wrathfulness 
to  prophesy  among  the  prophets,  was  it  not  a 
type  of  what  took  place  in  the  history  of  his 
times  ?  The  settled  malignity  of  purpose  which 
he  pursued  towards  David,  did  it  not  at  length 
drive  him  upon  his  own  destruction?  And  did 
it  not  at  the  same  time  set  off  the  more  strik- 
ingly, and  bring  more  prominently  into  notice, 
the  many  excellences  of  head  and  heart  which 
characterized  the  youthful  Bethlehemite,^ — his 
wisdom  and  prudence,  his  bravery  and  mag- 
nanimity, his  gentleness  and  benignity?  And 
when  they  saw  the  clouded  and  sullen  brow, 
and  all  the  natural  and  acquired  repulsiveness 
of  the  one,  and  the  as  yet  unsullied  honor, 
joined  with  the  youth  and  beauty,  of  the  other, 
think  you  the  daughters  of  Israel  grew  less 
jubilant  with  their  timbrels  and  dances  as  they 


CONSERVATISM  AND   PROGRESS.  113 

repeated  the  familiar  song  :  "  Saul  hath  slain  his 
thousands,  but  David  his  ten  thousands"? 
Would  not  the  sympathies  of  the  people  neces- 
sarily be  enlisted  strongly  with  the  royal 
fugitive,  and  against  his  royal  persecutor? 
And  so  Saul  was  securing  the  very  end  he 
sought  to  prevent,  by  the  very  efforts  he  put 
forth  to  prevent  it.  He  was  at  once  paving 
the  way  to  his  own  perdition,  and  that  to  the 
exaltation  and  enthronement  of  his  successor. 
And  so  it  ever  is.  When  the  enemy  comes  in 
like  a  flood,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  lifts  up  a 
standard  against  him.  The  wrath  of  the  perse- 
cutor reacts  as^ainst  himself,  and  "  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church." 

CONSERVATISM  AND    PROGRESS. 

Saul  is  a  representative  of  that  senile  con- 
servatism that  clings  to  the  old  simply  because 
it  is  old  ;  though  the  verdict  of  Heaven  stands 
recorded  that  it  has  forfeited  its  right  to  be. 
David  represents  the  spirit  of  progress,  that 
takes  its  rise  in  the  word  of  God,  "  in  whom 

18 


114  A   PROVERB   IN  ISRAEL. 

was  Life,  and  the  Life  was  the  light  of  men." 
Au  elemental  war  between  them  has  been  con- 
tinned  through  the  ages,  and  is  destined  to  con- 
tinue, till  the  final  conflict  and  decision  of  the 
great  battle-field  of  Armageddon. 

There  has  never  been  a  useful  reform,  moral, 
social,  political,  or  religious,  that  has  not  cost 
a  struggle  between  these  opposing  forces.  The 
old  does  not  quietly  give  way  when  its  time 
has  come,  and  depart  in  peace.  It  resists  the 
incoming  of  the  new.  So  it  is  in  the  individ- 
ual. The  new  birth  does  not  at  once  create 
all  things  new.  The  new  man  is  strenuously 
resisted  by  the  old ;  and  in  some  cases,  it 
would  seem,  the  old  man  has  perpetual  predom- 
inance, 

"  .  .  .  .  There  are  many,  even, 

Whose  names  are  written  in  the  Christian  Church, 

....  that  diet  still  on  mud, 
And  splash  the  altars  with  it ;  you  might  think 
The  clay  Christ  laid  upon  their  eyelids,  when, 
Still  blind,  he  called  them  to  the  use  of  sight, 
Romained  there,  to  retard  its  exercise 
With  clogging  incrustations." 

So,  too,  it  is  in  society.     No  sooner  is  a  new 


CONSERVATISM  AND   PROGRESS,  115 

life  implanted  therein,  than  conservatism  seeks 
to  arrest  its  development,  by  hedging  it  iu 
with  its  body  of  death.  Turbulent  eras  in  hu- 
man history  have  not  been  produced  by  the 
spirit  of  progress  that  is  in  the  world,  l)ut  by 
the  resistance  that  has  been  made  as^aiust  it. 
The  stream  that  is  unimpeded  in  its  flow  runs 
quietly,  and  without  agitation.  It  is  the  obsta- 
cle that  resists  progress  that  causes  turbulence. 
The  conservative  sees  the  stream  quietly  mov- 
ing past  the  position  he  occupies,  and,  like  a 
drunken  man,  he  thinks  the  foundations  of  the 
earth  are  out  of  place  ;  and  therefore  he  franti- 
cally cries,  "  Hold !  "  as  if  his  simple  voice 
could  remand  the  waters  back  to  their  original 
springs  in  the  everlasting  hills.  Grown  des- 
perate at  length,  because  unheeded,  he  rushes 
madly  into  the  stream,  and  proceeds  to  build 
barriers  across  it  of  his  constituted  pride, 
and  wickedness,  and  impotence,  and  folly. 
But  he  finds,  in  the  long  run,  that  it  is  all  in 
vain.  His  efforts,  instead  of  arresting,  only 
delay  a  little,  and  thereby  give  irresistible 
momentum  to  the  spirit  of  progress. 


116  A    PROVERB   IN  ISRAEL, 

What  voice  can  bid  the  progress  stay 

OfTruth's  triumphal  car? 
What  voice  arrest  the  growing  day, 

Or  quench  the  solar  star? 

Let  conservatism  pile  up  its  barriers,  high 
and  hard  as  the  cliffs  of  Niagara,  the  waters 
will  rise  to  the  height,  and  overleap  it.  Instead 
of  stopping  the  current,  a  catastrophe  is  precip- 
itated, and  ever  and  anon  huge  masses  of 
the  old  wickedness  are  rent  away,  and  plunged 
out  of  sight  in  the  abyss  below.  It  is  to  be 
expected  of  a  mere  partisan  that  he  will  cling 
persistently  to  his  party  till  every  plank  of  the 
old  ship  is  turned  to  rottenness ;  and  that  a 
mere  sectarist  will  cling  to  his  creed  until  all 
that  gives  it  distinction  is  its  falsehood.  But 
the  desperation  with  which  they  cling  serves 
to  expose  the  unsoundness  of  the  one,  and  the 
untruthfulness  of  the  other,  while  the  truth  and 
righteousness  to  which  they  stand  opposed  are 
called  into  notice  thereby. 

The  desperation  with  which  the  Church  of 
Rome,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  clung  to  her 
every  superstition ;  the  efforts  she  put  forth  to 
build  up    her  gigantic    system    of  fraud   and 


CONSERVATISM  AND   PROGRESS,  117 

crime  ;  the  methods  of  falsehood  and  corruption 
which  she  employed,  by  which  she  sought  to 
bind  down  the  nations  under  her  mantle  of 
darkness  and  ignorance, — all  contributed  to  pave 
the  way  for  the  Reformation,  and  to  ensure  its 
success.  All  thinking  minds  were  thus  com- 
pelled to  feel  the  need  of  it.  They  were  there- 
fore the  better  prepared  to  appreciate  the  pu- 
rity and  glory  that  irradiated  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  and  him  crucified.  Multitudes,  therefore, 
hailed  with  joy  the  new  doctrines,  and  the  new 
order  of  things  they  brought  with  them.  Lu- 
ther, and  Calvin,  and  Zwingle  preached,  and 
rested  their  cause  in  the  power  of  truth  above. 
To  the  sturdy  blows  they  dealt  to  the  Romish 
usurpations,  the  Vatican  rung  with  empty 
thunders  of  excommunication;  but,  amid 
these  denunciations  and  the  subsequent  perse- 
cutions, the  word  continued  to  grow,  and  con- 
verts were  multiplied. 


118  A   PROVERB   IN  ISRAEL, 

vm. 

A  HOSTILITY   ENCOUNTERED   BY  OUR    SAVIOUR, 

But  we  must  not  omit  the  illustration  of  this 
^ibject  afforded  by  the  history  of  our  Saviour 
himself.  Never  was  Christianity  assailed  with 
such  virulence  and  variety  of  opposition  as  in 
the  person  of  its  Founder.  The  powers  of  this 
world,  the  hosts  of  wicked  men,  and  the  powers 
of  darkness,  —  all  led  by  the  prince  of  the  spirits 
of  perdition,  and  all  together  bending  their 
multiplied  energies,  with  malignant  hate,  to 
the  one  work  of  contesting  his  power,  disputing 
his  claims,  and  preventing  the  accomplishment 
of  his  redemptive  Avork.  And  how  obviously 
did  all  these  efforts  contribute  to  the  demon- 
stration of  his  power,  to  the  confirmation  of  his 
pre-eminent  claims,  and  the  prosperous  ad- 
vancement of  his  glorious  work  !  All  his  ene- 
mies did  their  mightiest  against  him,  and  failed ; 
and  thus  demonstrated  his  eternal  power  and 
godhead. 

All  the  powers  of  the  kingdom  of  evil  were 
stirred  up  in  wrath  against  him  to  the  utter- 


HOSTILITY  AGAINST  THE   SAVIOUR.  119 

most ;  but  the  Ecdcemer  pursued  his  work  as 
steadfostly,  and  as  little  moved,  as  if  no  assault 
had   been  made  upon  him ;  '  and   thereby  was 
demonstrated  the  impotence  of  the  evil  powers 
to  prevail  against  the  kingdom  he  was  estab- 
lishing in  the  world.     The  temptation  served  to 
show  his  incorruptibility.    Calumny  but  proved 
his  innocence ;  and  the  attempt  to  betray  him 
into   folly    only   made   his   wisdom    the    more 
apparent.     The  sufferings  to  which  he  was  sub- 
jected  served   to   reveal   in   him   infinite    re- 
sources of  spii-itual  strength ;   while  his  death 
just  proved  that  death  had  no  dominion  over 
him;    and   all  contributed  to    show   him   con- 
queror, and  more  than  conqueror,  leading  cap- 
tivity captive,  and  receiving  gifts  for  men. 

The  inspired  writers,  as  they  relate  the 
doino-s  of  wicked  men  against  him,  are  careful 
to  record  that  these  things  came  to  pass  *^that 
the  scripture  might  be  fulfilled."  And  here 
the  marvel  of  Saul  among  the  prophets  is  all 
outdone  by  the  greater  wonder,  of  Satan  and 
his  hosts,  both  human  and  demoniac,  in  their 
wrathfulness  securing  the  fulfilment  of  proph- 
ecy and  the  establishment  of  the  gospel.     Wit- 


120  A   PROVERB   m  ISRAEL, 

ness  that  last  great  trial  that  concluded  the 
earthly  ministry  of  the  Word  made  flesh.  All 
the  concentrated  malignity  of  men  and  devils 
assailed  him.  It  was  theu'  "hour  and  the 
power  of  darkness."  His  soul  was  agonized 
with  draughts  of  untold  bitterness ;  while, 
without,  the  congregated  wickedness  of  men 
exhausted  upon  him  the  arts  of  cruelty.  And 
yet  these  evil  agents  were,  all  the  time,  accom- 
plishing the  ends  of  prophecy.  The  minutest 
specifications  are  fulfilled  to  the  very  letter. 

We  notice,  especially,  the  betrayal  and  the 
thirty  pieces  of  silver,  the  mock-trial,  the 
shame,  the  scourge,  the  pierced  side,  the 
vinegar  and  the  gall,  the  dividing  of  the 
raiment,  and  casting  lots  upon  his  vesture. 
All  that  is  done  to  disprove  only  establishes 
his  Messiahship ;  all  that  is  done  against  him 
but  demonstrates  the  truth  of  his  saying,  "  All 
power  is  given  unto  me,  both  in  heaven  and  on 
earth ;"  all  that  is  done  to  hinder  his  glorious 
work  only  ensures  its  progress. 


THE   SUPREME  AUTnOEITY.  121 

IX. 

THE   SUPREME   AUTHORITT. 

And  his  is  the  authority  that  rules  among 
the  children  of  men ;  that  holds  the  reins  of 
that  redemptive  providence  in  human  affairs 
which  we  have  briefly  traced ;  by  which  the 
counsels  of  wickedness  are  brought  to  naught, 
and  its  workings  are  inverted ;  by  which  Saul 
is  compelled  to  prophesy  arnong  the  prophets ; 
and  which  wrests  the  utterance  of  truth  and 
righteousness  even  from  the  slanderous  tongues 
of  their  assailants.  The  evil  agent  means  it  for 
evil ;  but  God  ordains  that  it  shall  result  in 
good. 

As  we  have  seen,  instances  are  not  wanting, 
in  the  ordinary  course  of  the  world,  in  which 
errorists  have  been  compelled,  in  self-defence, 
to  acknowledge  the  truth ;  in  which  wrong- 
doing has  culminated  in  defence  and  support  of 
the  right ;  in  which  high-handed  crime  has  but 
witnessed,  and  rendered  more  secure,  the  in- 
nocence it  assailed ;  in  which  the  very  infatua- 
tion with  which  a  vicious  course  was  pursued  has 


122  A   PROVERB   IN  ISRAEL. 

resulted  in  the  triiimpli  of  virtue  ;  in  wliich  law- 
lessness and  violence  have  made  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  order  and  law ;  and  even  the  wrath 
of  man,  that  worketh  not  the  risfhteousness  of 
God,  has  nevertheless  been  made  to  praise  him, 
while  the  remainder  of  wrath  he  has  restrained. 
The  great  lesson  of  all,  then,  is,  that  God 
EEiGNS,  and  that  the  evil  in  this  world  is  cir- 
cumscribed within  his  all-provident  control ; 
and  that  he  will  accomplish  his  purposes,  and 
have  his  work  done,  by  evil  agencies  if  not 
otherwise  ;  for  "  He  doeth  according  to  his  will 
amons:  the  hosts  of  heaven,  and  amonof  the  in- 


o 


habitants   of  earth."      "The  Lord  eeigneth, 


LET   THE   EARTH  REJOICE." 


V. 

FRUITLESS  SUPPLICATIOJ\r. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FRUITLESS   SUPPLICATION. 
I. 

SAUL   RESORTS    TO  PRATER. 

AST  scene  of  all  in  this  sad,  eventful  his- 
tory :  Saul,  in  the  posture  of  a  suppli- 
cant, uttering  the  language  of  earnest 
prayer.  But  the  heavens  are  as  brass 
and  the  earth  as  iron.  There  is  no 
penetrating  the  darkness  with  which  his  soul 
is  insphered  ;  and  the  "  great,  watchful  heav- 
ens" look  do'svn  upon  the  petitioner  in  silent 
scorn.  "He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall 
laugh ;  the  Lord  shall  have  them  in  deris- 
ion." "And  when  Saul  inquired  of  the  Lord, 
the  Lord  answered  him  not,  neither  by  dreams, 
nor  by  Urim,  nor  by  prophets." 
-  These  words  paint,  as  by  one  bold  master- 
stroke, the  background  of  the  closing  scene  in 
the  life  of  the  first  king  of  Israel.     No  language 

125 


126  FRUITLESS  supplication; 

could  depict  more  graphically  the  condition 
of  a  soul  bereft  of  all  moral  and  spiritual  guid- 
ance. He  gropes  in  darkness,  and  calls  for 
divine  direction,  and  seeks  for  light  in  vain. 
The  good  Spirit  of  God  that  had  been  given 
him  has  been  withdrawn.  The  divine  counsel 
that  had  often  been  given,  only  to  be  disre- 
garded, is  now  withheld.  For  his  disobedience, 
his  hio^h-handed  treason  asfainst  the  God  of 
Israel,  he  has  been  rejected  from  being  king. 
He  is  no  longer  the  true  head  of  the  theocratic 
government,  though  still  retaining  the  place, 
and  exercising  the  functions  of  sovereignty. 
God  has  chosen,  for  that  sovereignty,  "  a  man 
after  his  own  heart."  But  this  man,  hated  of 
Saul,  with  a  causeless  but  bitter  and  cruel 
hatred,  and  hunted  as  a  fugitive  from  place  to 
place,  has  found  a  refuge  from  his  persecutor, 
at  length,  in  the  camp  of  the  enemies  of  Israel. 
On  a  former  occasion,  in  a  time  of  imminent 
peril,  he  had  been  the  savior  of  Israel.  Saul 
had  now  put  it  beyond  his  power  to  obtain  help 
from  that  quarter,  if  indeed  he  had  desired  to"* 
do  so. 

Besides,  his  old  friend  and  prophetic  counsel- 


SAUL   EESORTS    TO  PltAYER.  127 

lor  had  long  since  passed  away.  The  mournful 
record  tells  us,  "  Now  Samuel  was  dead ;  and 
Israel  had  lamented  hhii,  and  buried  him  in 
Eamah,  even  in  his  own  city."  And  so  the  last 
ray  of  hope  is  extinguished ;  and  Saul  stands 
before  us,  gloomy  and  dejected,  a  self-ruined 
and  God-forsaken  man ;  just  on  the  eve  of  a 
terrible  emergency,  that  might  well  tax  the 
resources  of  the  holiest,  the  coura<2:e  of  the 
bravest,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  wisest.  A  for- 
midable invasion  was  on  foot.  "It  came  to 
pass,  in  those  days,  that  the  Philistines  gath- 
ered their  armies  for  warfare,  to  fight  with 
Israel.  And  the  Philistines  gathered  them- 
selves together,  and  came  and  pitched  in 
Shunem ;  and  Saul  gathered  all  Israel  together, 
and  they  pitched  in  Gilboa."  And  so  the  two 
armies  confronted  each  other.  It  w\as  evident 
that  mighty  events  were  on  the  wing.  The 
next  few  hours  might  decide  the  fate  of  the 
king  and  of  the  kingdom.  He  cannot  remain 
niactive,  and  yet  he  does  not  know  how  to  act. 
He  is  impelled  onward,  by  inexorable  neces- 
sity, but  without  the  possibility  of  knowing 
whither. 


128  FRUITLESS   SUPPLICATION. 

Those  are  awful  moments  when  a  soul  stands 
thus  perplexed  with  infinite  contingencies,  the 
moral  atmosphere  he  breathes  all  fetid  with 
the  exhalations  of  former  crimes,  doomed  by 
his  own  free  choice  to  fix  his  destiny,  without 
one  ray  of  light  to  guide  him  in  the  choice. 
The  chances  are  numberless,  that,  in  his  doubt, 
and  dread,  and  desperation,  he  will  not  act 
wisely. 

Stern  is  the  oulook  of  Necessity. 

Not  without  shuddering  may  a  liuman  hand 

Grasp  the  mysterious  urn  of  Destiny. 

In  ancient  times,  God  sometimes  communi- 
cated with  men,  and  made  kuow^n  his  purposes 
to  them,  or  gave  them  preintimations  of  the 
coming  good  or  evil  in  dreams.  He  sent  his 
angels  down  through  the  silence,  to  anoint  the 
sleeper  with  holy  unction,  and  weave  into  his 
dreams  the  messages  of  heavenly  inspiration. 
But  how  can  good  angels  visit  a  mind  preoc- 
cupied with  remorseful  images  of  former  guilt 
and  gloomy  apprehensions  of  swift-coming  retri- 
butions, whose  appalling  forms  fill  up  the  dis- 
tempered  imagination?      There  is  no  avenue 


SAVL   HE  SORTS    TO   PRAYER.  129 

through  which  the  Holiest  can  come  to  such  a 
soul,  unless  he  comes  to  judgment.  And  so, 
when  Saul  inquired  of  the  Lord,  he  answered 
him  not  by  dreams. 

Another  way  which  God  communicated  with 
his  chosen  people  was  by  Urim  and  Thummim. 
Of  this  method  little  is  known ;  but  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  divine  response  was  somehow 
given  in  connection  with  the  twelve  polished 
jewels  that  adorned  the  breast-plate  of  the 
high  priest.  Saul  now  directs  his  inquiries 
towards  this  oracle,  but  no  response  is  re- 
ceived —  the  oracle  is  silent. 

There  remained,  then,  as  a  last  resort,  the 
prophets.  Whether  they  would  deign  to  hold 
converse  with  him,  after  so  many  warnings  had 
been  disregarded,  and  he  had  hardened  himself 
against  so  many  reproofs,  may  well  be  doubted. 
At  all  events,  it  was  rendered  certain  that  they 
had  no  divine  message  for  him.  Was  it  not  a 
proverb  in  Israel,  "He  that,  being  often 
reproved,  hardeneth  his  neck,  shall  suddenly 
be  destroyed,  and  that  without  remedy"?  And 
so,  when  Saul  inquired  of  the  Lord,  the  Lord 
9 


130  FRUITLESS  supplication: 

answered  him  not ;  neither  by  dreams,  nor  by 
Urim,  nor  by  prophets. 

n. 

THE    CLOSING   SCENE   IN  A    GUILTY    CAREER. 

Finding  that  God  was  utterly  departed  from 
him,  he  forthwith  presses  his  hiquiries  in 
precisely  the  opposite  quarter.  Making  his 
way  out  of  camp  in  disguise,  and  under  cover 
of  the  darkness,  he  hastens  to  consult  the 
enchantress  of  Endor.  Affrighted  at  her  dia- 
bolical disclosures,  he  returns  to  the  army, 
weary,  weak,  and  dispirited :  in  precisely  the 
condition  to  ensure  his  defeat  in  the  succeeding 
conflict.  The  next  day  the  battle  was  joined  ; 
and  Israel  made  but  a  feeble  resistance  against 
the  hosts  of  the  Philistines.  The  army  of 
Gilboa  was  trampled  down  by  the  invader,  or 
swept  away  in  the  storm  of  battle,  like  chaff 
of  the  summer  threshing-floor.  "  And  the  bat- 
tle went  sore  against  Saul ;  and  the  archers  hit 
him,  and  he  was  sore  wounded  of  the  archers. 
Then  said  Saul  unto  his  armor-bearer.  Draw 
thy  sword  and  thrust  me   through  therewith, 


SCRIPTURE   RECORD    OF   HIS   SIN.  131 

lest"  these  uncircumcised  come,  and  thrust  mo 
through,  and  abuse  me.  But  his  armor- 
bearer  would  not ;  for  he  was  sore  afraid : 
therefore  Saul  took  a  sword,  and  fell  upon  it. 
And  when  his  armor-bearer  saw  that  Saul  was 
dead,  he  fell  likewise  upon  his  sword,  and  died 
with  him.  So  Saul  died,  and  his  three  sons, 
and  his  armor-bearer,  and  all  his  men  th-'^t 
same  day  together." 

m. 

SCRIPTURE   RECORD    OF  HIS   SIN. 

The  chronicler  of  Israel  concludes  his  account 
of  these  events  with  this  brief  comment.  "  So 
Saul  died  for  his  transs^ressions  which  he  com- 
mitted  against  the  Lord,  even  against  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  which  he  kept  not;  and  also  for 
asking  counsel  of  one  that  had  a  familiar  spirit, 
to  inquire  of  it,  and  inquired  not  of  the  Lord : 
therefore  he  slew  him,  and  turned  the  kingdom 
to  David,  the  son  of  Jesse." 

These  words  lift  the  veil  from  any  mystery 
that  might  otherwise  hang  over  the  closing 
days  of  this  royal  sinner's  career.     He  died  for 


132  FRUITLESS  supplication: 

his  transgressions,  we  are  told.  And  this  trans- 
gression was  twofold  :  First,  against  the  Word 
of  the  Lord,  which  he  kept  not,  and,  secondly, 
consulting  one  who  had  a  familiar  spirit,  to 
inquire  of  it,  and  not  of  the  Lord.  In  other 
words,  turning  away  in  rebellion  from  God, 
and  seeking  light  in  the  kingdom  and  from  the 
prince  of  darkness. 

The  prophet,  when  he  anointed  him,  had 
pressed  upon  the  attention  of  both  him  and  his 
people,  in  a  somewhat  extended  address,  the 
condition  on  which  the  kingdom  was  established  : 
"If  ye  will  obey  the  voice  of  the  Lord  and 
serve  him,  and  not  rebel  against  the  com- 
mandment of  the  Lord,  then  shall  both  ye  and 
also  the  king  that  reigneth  over  you  continue, 
following  the  Lord  your  God.  But  if  ye  will 
not  obey  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  then  shall  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  be  against  you  as  it  was 
against  your  fathers."  This  admonition  is  en- 
forced with  all  the  power  of  inspiration,  and 
repeated  with  affectionate  urgency  at  the  close 
of  his  address:  "As  for  me,  God  forbid  that 
I  should  sin  against  the  Lord  in  ceasing  to  pray 
for  you ;  but  I  will  teach  you  the  good  and  the 


SCRIPTVRE   RECORD    OF  HIS   SIN.  133 

right  way.  Only  fear  the  Lord,  and  serve  him 
ill  truth  with  all  your  heart ;  for  consider  how 
great  things  he  hath  done  for  you.  But  if  ye 
shall  still  do  wickedly,  ye  shall  be  consumed, 
both  ye  and  your  king."  Such  was  the  con- 
dition upon  w^hich  the  people  received  their 
king.  Such  was  the  condition  upon  which  he 
received  the  kingdom. 

Scarcely   had   his   rule   become  established, 
when  an  occasion  presented  itself  that  furnished 
a  practical  test  of  the  king's  fidelity  to  this 
principle;  and,  strange  to  say,  thus  early  was 
he  weighed  in  the  balances  and  found  wanting. 
He  is  told  thei'bupon  that  his  kingdom  shall  not 
continue,  but  that  the  Lord  hath  chosen   him 
a  man  after  his  own  heart.     Then  there  follows 
his  great  sin  in  relation  to  the  Amalekites,  iu 
connection  with  which  he  is  plainly  told,"  Be- 
cause thou  hast  rejected  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
he  hath  also  rejected  thee  from  being  king.over 
Israel."     His  prophet  guide  now  leaves  him, 
and  visits  him  no  more.     And  it  is  said   the 
Lord   repented   that  he  had    made  him    king 
over  Israel. 

The    very    next    chapter    tells     us    of    the 


134  FRUITLESS  supplication: 

anointing  of  David,  and  also  that  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  came  npon  David  from  that  day  for- 
ward. "  But  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  departed 
from  Saul,  and  an  evil  spirit  from  the  Lord 
troubled  him."  It  is  evident  that  from  this 
time  forward  there  was  a  power  operating  upon 
his  mind  that  would  not  let  him  rest ;  that  pre- 
vented him  from  sinking  into  apathy  and  in- 
difference, and  that  compelled  him  to  feel 
continually  the  goadings  of  a  troubled  con- 
science. Jealousy  of  David,  whom  he  now 
regarded  as  a  rival,  combined  with  his  fears  to 
fill  him  with  the  most  diabolical  passions.  His 
subsequent  career  is  one  contiliual  rebellion 
against  God  and  persistent  effort  to  secure  the 
destruction  of  this  rival.  There  were  brief 
periods  when  there  seemed  to  come  upon  him 
a  sense  of  better  things ;  when  he  would  even 
confess  his  sin  and  promise  amendment ;  but 
never  was  the  confession  attended  with  a  hearty 
repentance.  Scarcely  had  the  words  escaped 
his  lips  when  the  old  madness  would  return : 
the  vulture  still  had  its  beak  in  his  heart. 


AN   OLD   LESSON  ILLUSTRATED.  135 

XV. 

AN  OLD   LESSON  ILLUSTRATED. 

It  is  the  old  lesson  illustrated,  that  the  sinner's 
rejection  of  God  results  in  his  being  ultimately 
rejected  of  him ;  that  continual  disobedience 
results  in  moral  blindness  and  infatuation  and 
the  ultimate  loss  of  the  soul ;  that  he  who  turns 
away  from  the  divine  light  when  it  is  given, 
may  find  himself  in  some  desperate  emergency 
calling  for  that  light  in  vain.  "  Because  I  have 
called  and  ye  refused ;  I  have  stretched  out 
my  hand  and  no  man  regarded,  I  also  will 
laugh  at  your  calamity,  I  will  mock  when 
your  fear  cometh.  When  your  fear  cometh  as 
desolation,  and  your  destruction  cometh  as  a 
whirlwind ;  when  distress  and  anguish  cometh 
upon  you,  then  shall  they  call  upon  me,  but  I 
will  not  answer ;  they  shall  seek  me  early,  but 
they  shall  not  find  me." 

In  this  view  Saul's  is  no  isolated  case.  The 
moral  inirredients  are  the  same  as  those  in  the 
case  of  every  impenitent  sinner.  He  sinned 
more  conspicuously,  and  went   to  perdition  in 


136  FRUITLESS   SUPPLICATION. 

a  royal  way.  The  commou  sinner  none  the 
less  signally  rebels  against  Gocl,  involves  him- 
self in  as  palpable  a  darkness,  and  makes  his 
way  to  a  destruction  equally  swift  and  sure. 
Only  take  away  the  kingly  trappings  and  cir- 
cumstances of  royalty,  and  Saul's  is  the  common 
case. 

CONSEQUENCES  FROM  NEGLECT  OF  RELIGIOUS 
OPPORTUNITIES. 

Let  US,  then,  notice  some  particulars  which 
this  parallel  suggests. 

1 .  There  was  a  time  in  his  life  when  a  noble 
destiny  was  within  his  reach ;  when  he  was 
wrought  upon  by  holy  impulses ;  when  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  was  upon  him,  and  another 
heart  was  given  him,  and  his  voice  was  attuned 
to  inspiration,  and  it  Vfas  said  in  Israel,  "  Is 
Saul  also  among  the  prophets  ?  "  So  it  is  with  the 
dullest  and  most  prosaic,  the  commonest  and 
most  obscure.  There  are  times  when  they  feel 
themselves  lifted  up,  they  know  not  how,  to  a 
higher  plane  than  that  of  their  every-day  life ; 
when   another  heart  is  given  them,    and  they 


NEGLECTED   OPPORTUNITIES.  137 

are  inspired  with  loftier  aspirations.  As  "when 
the  mariner,  lifted  to  the  crest  of  some  hu^^e 
billow,  suddenly  has  his  horizon  enlarged  and 
catches  a  view  of  headlands  that  otherwise  re- 
main unseen ;  so  are  our  moral  and  spiritual 
natures  lifted,  as  by  some  under-heaving  pres- 
sure, into  larger  views  and  discoveries  of  what 
we  are,  and  what  we  may  be.  Then  the  sinner 
thinks  of  God  and  immortality,  of  the  soul  and 
its  salvation,  of  the  Saviour  and  his  need  of 
him,  and  perchance  is  almost  persuaded  to  be  a 
Christian.  The  moment  is  propitious.  The 
occasion  is  full  of  promise.  Will  he  choose  the 
course  indicated  by  the  loftier  and  clearer  view, 
or  will  he  let  the  occasion  pass  without  reap- 
ing one  advantage  ?  If  one  Avill  not  decide  for 
the  better  part  when  he  sees  it  within  his  grasp, 
when  the  sunlight  of  heaven  is  shining  upon 
his  way,  and  his  attention  is  specially  directed 
to  a  nobler  destiny,  when  will  he?  Will  he 
be  more  likely  to  give  a  right  decision  amid 
the  deeper  darkness  that  must  succeed,  when 
the  light  is  taken  away,  when  his  conscience 
has  become  seared,  his  moral  sensibilities 
blunted,  and   his  whole  nature  chilled  with   a 


138  FRUITLESS  supplication; 

frigid  indifference?  There  is  an  analogy  all 
but  perfect  between  the  natural  and  the  spiritual 
in  this  respect. 

*'  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men, 
Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune ; 
Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life 
Is  bound  in  shallows,  and  in  miseries." 

"There  has  been  some  moment,"  says 
Maurice,  "  some  one  fleeting  moment,  in  the 
life  of  every  man,  even  the  most  thoughtless, 
when  he  has  had  dreams  of  better  things  ;  when 
he  has  heard  the  voices  of  the  prophets  with 
their  harp  and  their  tabret  coming  down  the 
hill ;  when  he  has  joined  their  company  and 
has  caught  their  strains.  There  may  have  been 
a  time  when  it  has  been  said  of  him,  '  What !  is 
he,  too,  among  the  prophets?  Has  he  found 
that  life  is  real,  and  that  it  is  not  to  go  out 
in  miserable  efforts  for  self-advancement,  or 
in  more  miserable  efforts  for  self-indulgence ; 
that  it  is  to  be  consecrated  to  the.  service  of 
God  and  man?  That  hour,  that  moment,  was 
the  hour,  the  moment,  of  their  life,  friend  and 
brother.     To  that  God  would  raise  and  assimi- 


NEGLECTED   OPPORTUNITIES .  139 

late  the  whole  of  it.  Oh,  do  not  let  the  sluggish, 
turbid  current  of  your  ordinary  days  seem  to 
you  that  which  truly  represents  to  you  what 
you  are,  what  you  are  destined  to  be.  '  No  ; 
the  time  when  you  made  Wiq  holiest  resolutions  ; 
when  you  struggled  most  with  the  powers  of 
evil ;  when  you  said  it  should  not  be  your 
master ;  when  love  conquered  you  and  freed 
you  from  other  chains  that  you  might  wear  her 
chains,  — that,  that  was  the  true  index  to  the 
divine  purpose  concerning  you ;  that  tells  you 
what  the  Spirit  of  God  is  working  in  you  that 
you  may  be.  You  may  not  be  able  to  revive 
the  feeling  which  you  had  then ;  but  lie  who 
gave  you  the  feeling,  He  is  with  you,  is  striving 
with  you  that  you  may  will  and  do  of  his  good 
pleasure.  Only  do  not. strive  with  Him,  that 
He  may  leave  you  to  yourself  and  to  the  power 
of  evil." 

2.  The  time  of  noblest  promise  with  Saul 
was  in  his  youth ;  and  this  is  commonly  the 
case.  Childhood  and  youth  is  the  seed-time ; 
the  rest  of  life  is  but  the  growth  of  what  was 
planted  then,  and  eternity  will  witness  the 
full  maturity  and  the  final  harvest.     Not  only 


140  FRUITLESS  SUPPLICATION, 

is  the  mind  more  impressible  then,  but  the  im- 
pressions made  produce  lasting  effects,  and 
operate  with  controlling  power  in  after  life.  It 
is  Wisdom  herself  who  gives  the  admonition, 
"  Remember  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy 
youth."  What  language  can  fully  set  forth 
the  improvidence  that  would  recklessly  forfeit 
all  these  advantages  and  opportunities,  contin- 
uing to  procrastinate,  till  the  "  evil  days  come  "  ! 
Many  a  one  who  has  done  so  has  been  compelled 
at  length  to  drink  a  bitter  cup,  to  lie  down  in 
sorrow  at  the  last,  exclaiming,  "  The  harvest  is 
past,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  we  are  not 
saved." 

3.  Again,  the  propitious  time  with  Saul  was 
when  he  was  called  to  enter  upon  his  life-work ; 
when  he  was  first  invested  with  the  attribute 
of  sovereignty.  There  is  such  a  period,  too, 
in  the  history  of  every  thoughtful  person. 
When  a  youth  is  first  wakened  to  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  responsibilities  of  life  resting  upon 
him ;  when  he  is  made  to  feel  that  the  great 
world  is  before  him  as  the  theatre  whereon  he 
is  to  work  out  his  destiny  ;  that  he  must  adopt 
his  calling,  and  make  his  way  thenceforth  by 


NEGLECTED    OPPOnTUXITIES,  141 

liis  own  exertions,  — then  life  seems  real.  The 
past  illusions  no  longer  satisfy.  He  can  no 
longer  walk  in  a  vain  show.  The  soul  craves 
something  substantial.  How  natural  that  a 
sense  of  responsibility  should  quicken  the  whole 
moral  nature,  should  open  the  heavens  to  the 
soul  and  lead  to  a  sense  of  God  !  How  many 
have  found  that  time  of  their  lives  the  time 
when  they  were  called  with  a  heavenly  calling 
to  the  work  of  faith,  to  the  service- of  Christ ! 
How  many,  too,  who  have  refused  to  obey  that 
call,  have  found  all  subsequent  awakenings 
less  and  less  potent  to  save,  till  the  Spirit  of 
God  has  finally  been  known  to  them  only  as 
a  spirit  of  remorse  and  fear,  —  "  an  evil  spirit 
from  the  Lord,"  that  troubled  them. 

4.  Again,  the  time  when  the  spirit  of  proph- 
ecy came  upon  Saul  was  when  he  was  among 
the  prophets.  Great  is  the  power  of  human 
sympathy.  The  power  of  God  unto  salvation 
operates  along  the  lines  of  social  contact.  The 
divine  life  is  propagated  from  heart  to  heart. 
The  Son  of  God  clothed  himself  in  human 
flesh  that  he  might  reach  us  through  that 
medium.     The  Holy  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pen- 


142  FRUITLESS  SUPPLICATION. 

tecost  was  poured  out  where  the  disciples  y 
were  all  gathered  together,  with  one  accord,  in' 
one  place,  and  filled  the  place  where  they  were 
sitting.  Such  is  the  ordinary  method  of  grace. 
For  this  purpose  the  church  was  organized.  For 
this  reason  the  social  institutions  of  the  church 
exist.  He  who  finds  himself  in  company  with 
the  disciples,  wrought  upon  by  a  spirit  kindred 
with  theirs,  when  the  religious  interest  that  is 
in  their  hearts  passes  over  as  a  heavenly  con- 
tagion into  his,  so  that  he  feels  impelled  to 
seek  their  company,  to  adopt  their  language, 
and  join  in  their  work,  stands  upon  a  high 
vantage-ground,  occupies  a  position  of  the 
loftiest  promise.  To  lose  that  vantage-ground, 
to  shut  away  from  the  soul  the  light  of  holy 
promise,  to  sink  again  into  apathy  and  in- 
difierence,  is  to  peril  all  his  immortal  interests. 
5.  While  it  is  true  in  general  that  every 
individual  who  lives  under  the  light  of  the 
gospel  realizes  his  times  of  special  awakening, 
when  he  feels  himself  called  of  God  with  a 
special  calling,  we  also  remark  that  no  advan- 
tages, however  great,  or  however  various,  can 
ensure   his    salvation.     These    advantages   in- 


NEGLECTED    OPPORTUNITIES.  143 

crease  his  responsibilities,  but  give  him  no 
immunities.  The  best  tniits  of  character  are 
no  proofs  against  the  possible  inroads  of  vice. 
Religious  influences  around  us,  or  resting  with 
power  upon  our  souls,  do  not  make  it  certain 
that  we  shall  not  be  lost  at  last.  God  gives  us 
our  advantages,  and  thereby  places  responsi- 
bility in  our  hands ;  and  then  all  depends 
upon  what  use  we  make  of  them.  Though  one 
start  with  every  possible  advantage,  it  is  by 
his  own  agility  that  he  must  win  the  race. 
Though  clad  in  kingly  armor,  it  is  with  sturdy 
blows  of  his  own  right  hand  that  he  is  to 
conquer. 

Witness  Saul :  once  among  the  prophets ; 
all  things  around  him,  all  things  that  were 
acting  upon  him,  seemingly  conspiring  to  his 
moral  and  spiritual  elevation.  Behold  him 
now,  every  door  of  hope  closed  against  him ; 
God  maintaining  towards  him  a  portentous 
silence ;  his  soul  enveloped  in  the  very  mid- 
night of  spiritual  darkness,  and  in  his  desperation 
seeking  the  companionship  and  counsel  of  the 
spirits  of  perdition.  Oh,  it  is  a  pictui-e  drawn 
from  real  life  of  a  lost  soul,  already  robed  in 


144  FRUITLESS   SUPPLICATIOIT. 


the  very  drapery  of  hell.     O  Lucifer !     How 
art  thou  fallen,  sou  of  the  morning  ! 


PROGRESSIVE  DEGRADATION  OF  CHARACTER. 

6.  Such  moral  intervals,  be  it  observed,  are 
not  often  passed  over  at  a  single  leap.  Satan 
is  at  great  pains  to  grade  the  road  to  hell  to 
suit  each  individual's  case.  Were  it  not  so,  he 
could  not  be  so  deplorably  successful.  They 
who  go  down  the  broad  way  sink  gradually, 
and  by  almost  imperceptible  degrees.  We 
need  therefore  to  guard  the  more  cautiously 
against  the  first  beginnings  of  evil.  It  is 
hazardous  to  dally  with  temptation,  to  stand 
faltering  and  hesitating,  when  God  clearly 
points  out  the  way;  to  say  ^'if,"  and  "but," 
where  God  makes  all  bright  with  certainties. 

You  look  with  disgust  upon  the  confirmed 
inebriate  ;  but  let  me  tell  you,  young  man,  all 
that  depth  of  ruin  was  involved  in  the  first 
draught  of  the  maddening  beverage.  That 
guilty  creature  whom  the  daughters  of  respect- 
ability and  refinement  would   shrink   from   as 


PROGRESSIVE   DEGRADATION.  145 

from  the  touch  of  contamination,  ^vhosc  door 
is  the  way  to  death,  and  whose  steps  take  hold 
on  hell,  commenced  her  career  of  shame  by 
simple  indiscretions.  That  villain,  whom  no- 
body will  trust,  commenced  with  little,  scarce 
perceptible  peccadilloes.  That  liar,  whom  nobody 
will  believe,  began,  perchance,  by  sliglitly  add- 
ing to  or  subtracting  from  the  sum  total  of 
the  current  tattle.  Oh,  it  is  the  little  foxes 
that  spoil  the  vines  !  Have  a  care,  then  ;  exercise 
a  scrupulous  vigilance  about  the  beginnhigs  of 
sin.  The  sinner  goes  down  by  easy  gradations, 
his  w^ay  darkened  more  aud  more,  till  at  length 
he  finds  himself  "  holden  w^ith  the  cords  of  his 
sins,  and  he  shall  die  without  instruction,  and 
in  the  greatness  of  his  folly  he  shall  go 
astray." 

It  is  the  same  with  relin^ious  doubt  and  dis- 
obedience.  He  who  fails  to  submit  to  the 
claims  of  God  when  they  are  made  known  to 
him,  who  puts  God  off  for  his  own  convenience, 
is  entering  upon  a  course  that  may  lead  hijii 
to  ruinous  apostasy  at  the  last ;  and  he  who, 
instead  of  searching  for  the  truth  as  for  hidden 
treasure,  and  seeking  to  be  rooted  and  grounded 

10 


146  FRUITLESS  SUPPLICATION, 

therein,  readily  entertains  and  toys  with  every 
passing  doulDt,  may  find  his  perceptions  darkened 
more  and  more,  till  he  loses  the  power  of 
assured  belief.  N"ay,  how  often  do  such  per- 
sons pass  directly  over  to  the  opposite  side  of 
sceptical  credulity,  —  a  position  that  has,  if 
possible,  even  less  of  sound  intelligence  to 
recommend  it  than  the  grossest  superstition. 
One  of  the  greatest  marvels  of  modern  spiritual- 
ism is,  the  facility  with  which  certain  minds 
can  turn  away  from  the  well-attested  truths 
of  the  gospel,  professing  themselves  too  in- 
credulous to  receive  the  Word  of  God,  and 
accept  forthwith,  with  the  extreme  of  unreason- 
ing credulity,  the  vapid,  and  silly,  and  senseless 
outgivings  of  "  one  who  hath  a  familiar  spirit." 
"Speculations,"  says  Mansel,  "which  end  in 
unbelief,  are  often  commenced  in  a  believing 
spirit.  It  is  painful,  but  at  the  same  time 
instructive,  to  trace  the  gradual  progress  by 
which  an  unstable  disciple  often  tears  off,  strip 
by  strip,  the  wedding  garment  of  his  faith, 
scarce  conscious  the  while  of  his  own  increasing 
nakedness ;  and  to  mark  how  the  language  of 
Christian  belief  may  remain  almost  untouched 


PROGRESSIVE   DEGRADATION.  147 

when  the  substance  and  the  life  have  departed 
from  it.  While  philosophy  speaks  nothing 
but  Christianity,  we  may  be  tempted  to  think 
that  the  two  are  really  one ;  that  our  own 
speculations  are  leading  us  to  Christ  by  another 
and  a  more  excellent  way.  Many  a  young 
aspirant  after  a  philosophical  faith  trusts  him- 
self to  the  trackless  ocean  of  rationalism  in  the 
spu'it  of  the  too  confident  apostle  :  *Lord,  bid 
me  come  to  thee  on  the  water.'  And  for  a 
while  he  knows  not  how  deep  he  sinks,  till  the 
treacherous  surface  on  which  he  treads  is  yield- 
ing on  every  side,  and  the  dark  abyss  of  utter 
unbelief  is  yawning  to  swallow  him  up.  Well 
is  it  with  those  who,  even  in  that  last  fearful 
hour,  can  yet  cry,  ^  Lord,  save  me  ! '  and  can  feel 
that  supporting  hand  stretched  out  to  grasp 
them,  and  hear  that  voice  sb  warning,  yet  so 
comforting,  *0  thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore 
didst  thou  doubt  ? '  But  who  that  enters  upon 
this  course  of  mistrust  shall  dare  to  say  that 
Buch  shall  be  the  end  of  it?  Far  better  is  it  to 
learn,  at  the  outset,  the  nature  of  that  unstable 
surface    on   which    w^e   tread,  without    being 


148  FRUITLESS  SUPPLICATION. 

tempted  by  the  phantom  of  religious  promise 
which  hangs  delusively  over  it." 

FINAL  LOSS   OF  THE   SOUL. 

We  will  not  dwell  on  the  sad  spectacle  of 
the  final  wreck  and  ruin  of  the  soul.  Apostasy 
utter  and  irremediable ;  the  intellect  blinded  to 
all  spiritual  good ;  the  moral  perceptions  in- 
volved in  inextricable  confusion ;  the  light  of 
God's  countenance  utterly  and  forever  with- 
drawn ;  and  the  conscience  stung  by  the 
scorpion  remorse,  or  tortured  with  gloomy  fore- 
bodings. Every  one  can  see  how  it  is  possible 
that  a  soul  may  be  wakened  to  the  full  con- 
sciousness of  such  a  state,  and  at  the  same  time, 
and  by  the  same  means,  to  the  equally  full  and 
clear  consciousness  that  there  is  thenceforth 
no  deliverance  from  it ;  that  the  soul  is  lost, 
irrecoverably,  forever  lost.  There  is  a  dark- 
ness penetrated  by  no  ray  from  above ;  a 
spiritual  death,  whose  deep  Gehenna  is  never 
stirred  by  the  power  of  resurrection ;  a  realm 
of  moral  guilt  and  w^oe  in  which  divine   grace 


FINAL   LOSS    OF   THE    SOUL.  149 

is  unknown,  and  from  which  recovery  is  impos- 
sible. "There  is  a  sin  unto  death,"  —  a  sin  for 
which  there  is  no  intercession.  Avoid  it.  Oh 
avoid  it  while  you  may.  "  Seek  ye  tlie  Lord 
while  he  may  be  found  ;  call  ye  upon  him  while 
he  is  near.  Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way, 
and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts  ;  and  let 
him  turn  unto  the  Lord,  who  will  have  mercy 
upon  him,  and  to  our  God,  who  will  abundantly 
pardon." 


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